A  QUARTER  MILLENNIAL 


"Something  towards  the  Great  River,  on  the  North  Side  of  Stony  Brook,  where 
we  stated  the  Highway  or  Street,  Running  from  Stony  Brook  Northward  toward 
Springfield,  and  called  this  Street  High  Street — Pynchon  Committee  Report, 
May  16,  1671. 


CELEBRATION 

OF  THE 

TWO  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY 
OF  THE  SETTLEMENT 

OF 

SUFFIELD,  CONNECTICUT 

OCTOBER  12,  13  AND  14, 1920 

WITH  SKETCHES  FROM  ITS  PAST  AND  SOME  RECORD 

OF  ITS  LAST  HALF  CENTURY  AND 

OF  ITS  PRESENT 


SUFFIELD 

PUBLISHED  BY  AUTHORITY  OF  THE 
GENERAL  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 

I92I 


CONTENTS 


THE  QUARTER  MILLENNIAL  PAGE 

Settlement 9 

Official  Action 12 

Organization  and  Committees 14 

Program 20 

Sabbath  Prelude 22 

TUESDAY,  THE  FIRST  DAY 

Welcome  by  George  A.  Peckham 24 

Response  by  Seymour  C.  Loomis 25 

Historical  Address  by  Prof.  William  Lyon  Phelps 31 

Collation  and  Speaking 47 

Community  Dance 54 

WEDNESDAY,  THE  SECOND  DAY 

Organ  Recital  by  Prof.  William  C.  Hammond 55 

Address  by  Dr.  Stephen  S.  Wise 55 

The  Pageant 59 

THURSDAY,  THE  THIRD  DAY 

Parade 77 

Dedication  of  Tablets 79 

Address  by  Henry-  B.  Russell 85 

THE  HOSTESS  HOUSE 

The  List  of  Exhibits 92 

Miller  Collection  of  Indian  Relics 101 

Letters  from  Suffield  Sons  and  Daughters 102 

IN  OTHER  DAYS 

Pioneers 108 

Deerfield  Captives no 

Early  Courts  and  Lawyers,  Christopher  Jacob  Lawton 112 

General  Phinehas  Lyman    114 

Gideon  Granger,  Hezekiah  Huntington,  William  Gay 118 

Calvin  Pease 120 

Ministers  and  Laymen,  Ebenezer  Gay,  Asahel  Morse 120 

Calvin  Philleo,  Dwight  Ives 121 

Apollos  Phelps,  Sylvester  Graham,  Timothy  Swan 122 

Great  River  and  Stony  Brook,  Old  Mills 123 

Old  Ferry 125 

Fisheries,  The  Island,  Enfield  Bridge 126 

Slaves,  The  Old  Clock 129 

Burial  Grounds 132 


2012380 


CONTENTS 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL  AND  LIBRARY  PAGE 

First  Congregational  Church 137 

West  Suffield  Congregational  Church 139 

First  Baptist  Church 141 

Second  Baptist  Church 143 

West  Suffield  Methodist  Church 145 

Calvary  Episcopal  Church 146 

Third  Baptist  Church 147 

Sacred  Heart  Church 147 

St.  Joseph's  Church 148 

Public  Schools  and  School  Houses 149 

Suffield  School 153 

Libraries 157 

The  Kent  Memorial 159 

Sheldon  Collection 161 

LANDMARKS 

Jonathan  Sheldon  Place 165 

Hatheway  Place 166 

Gay  Manse,  Joseph  Pease  House 167 

Spencer  Place 169 

Gay  Mansion,  Luther  Loomis  Place 170 

Granger  Place 171 

Timothy  Swan  House,  Old  Harmon  Place 172 

Medad  Pomeroy,  Leavitt  and  Posthumous  Sikes  Places 173 

King  Place,  Gad  Lane  Tavern,  the  Pool 174 

Seth  Austin  Tavern 175 

List  of  Old  Houses 176 

Turnpikes  and  Taverns 179 

Crooked  Lane 181 

The  Post  Office 182 

CIVIL  WAR  DAYS  AND  SINCE 

Changes  in  Population 183 

Tobacco 1 86 

Suffield  in  the  Wars 189 

Soldiers'  Monument 190 

Red  Cross  Chapter 191 

Banks 192 

Publishers 194 

Physicians 194 

Emergency  Aid  Association 195 

Village  of  Suffield  and  Fire  Department 196 

Apollo  Lodge  No.  59  A.  F.  A.  M 198 

Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution 200 

Woman's  Reading  Club  and  Ladies'  Wide  Awake  Club 201 

Mapleton  Hall,  the  Grange,  May  Breakfasts 201 

Mapleton  Literary  Club 203 

The  Town 203 

Tribute  to  Suffield  Benefactors 205 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

"Something  Towards  the  Great  River" Frontispiece 

The  Granger  Maple Facing  8 

General  Executive  Committee "  16 

Chairmen  of  Special  Committees "  17 

Chairmen  Pageant  Committees "  32 

Speakers "  33 

Pageant  Poster "  48 

Airplane  View  of  Pageant  Grounds "  52 

A  Pageant  Scene  on  Stony  Brook "  60 

Pageant  Groups "  61 

Two  Views  of  7000  Spectators "  64 

The  Breeze  Brings  News  of  White  Men Following  64 

Major  Pynchon  Reading  the  Treaty "  64 

The  Stranger  appears  to  the  Pilgrims "  64 

Pynchon  Presiding  at  First  Town  Meeting "  64 

Benjamin  Franklin  Surveying  Through  Suffield Facing  65 

The  Lexington  Alarm "  65 

Washington  Addressing  the  Townspeople "  68 

Minuet  in  Honor  of  Washington "  68 

Colonists  Resist  Tyranny 69 

Discussing  Civil  War  News "  69 

People  at  Tablet  Dedication "  76 

Service  Men  in  World  War "  80 

Pageant  Characters  in  Parade "  80 

The  Tablets Following  80 

Float  of  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution Facing  81 

Float  of  Suffield  Grange "  84 

Mapleton  Literary  Club "  84 

Float  of  Woman's  Reading  Club "  85 

Float  of  Wide  Awake  Club «  85 

Float  of  Polish  People "  92 

Suffield  Firemen "  92 

West  Suffield  School  Children "  93 

Town  Hall  Decorated "  93 

Hostess  House  and  Interior "  96 

Indian  Relics "  97 

The  Old  Boston  Neck  Dam "  97 

Suffield  Center  and  Shaded  Common "  104 

Enfield  Bridge "  128 

The  Old  Ferry  Boat  "Cora" "  128 

Looking  Eastward  From  Suffield  Mountain "  129 

Stony  Brook  Ledge "  144 

First  Congregational  Church Following  144 

Boulder  on  Site  of  First  Meeting  House "  144 

First  Baptist  Church,  Zion's  Hill "  144 

Second  Baptist  Church "  144 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

West  Suffield  Methodist  Church Facing  145 

Second  Congregational,  Church  West  Suffield "  145 

Calvary  Episcopal  Church "  148 

Third  Baptist  Church "  148 

Sacred  Heart  Church  and  Rectory "  149 

St.  Joseph's  Church  and  Rectory , "  149 

Connecticut  Literary  Institution,  Old  View "  156 

Suffield  School,  North  Building "  160 

Suffield  School,  Old  Middle  and  Old  South Following  160 

Kent  Memorial  Library "  160 

Captain  Jonathan  Sheldon  House Facing  161 

Home  of  Posthumous  Sikes "  161 

Gad  Lane  Tavern "  164 

Hatheway  Place "  164 

Alfred  Spencer  Place "  165 

Gay  Manse "  165 

Lea vitt  Place "  172 

King  Place "  172 

Granger  Place "  173 

Harmon  Place "  173 

Pease  Place "  176 

Seth  Austin  Tavern "  176 

Captain  Medad  Pomeroy  Place Following  176 

Luther  Loomis  Place a  176 

Timothy  Swan  House "  176 

Gay  Mansion "  176 

Corners  in  Parlor,  Gay  Mansion Facing  177 

Dining  Room  and  a  Bed  Room,  Gay  Mansion "  180 

Hall,  Gay  Mansion "  181 

The  Pool «  181 

Suffield  Veterans  Association "  188 

First  National  and  Suffield  Savings  Banks "  192 

A  Suffield  Tobacco  Plantation "  193 

Suffield  Benefactors "  205 


THE  GRANGER  MAPLE  Planted  by  Launcelot  Granger,  who  died  1689 

"An  unremembered  Past 

Broods  like  a  presence  'mid  the  long  gray  boughs 
Of  this  old  tree,  which  has  outlived  so  long 
The  flitting  generations  of  mankind. 


QUARTER  MILLENNIAL 


A  generation  pauses  at  a  milestone  of  the  family  and  com- 
munity life  of  an  old  New  England  town,  commemorates  two 
centuries  of  civic  existence,  reviews  the  lengthening  past,  recalls 
its  traditions  and  revives  its  memories.  As  life  goes  on,  familiar 
faces  disappear;  new  figures  move  and  meet  upon  the  ancient 
streets,  another  cemetery  upon  another  hill  raises  its  monu- 
ments over  other  graves,  one  by  one  as  that  generation  vanishes. 
Then  its  children  and  its  grandchildren,  themselves  grown  to 
maturity  or  even  passed  into  the  gathering  twilight  of  their  lives, 
pause  at  another  milestone,  commemorate  another  half  century 
of  their  old  New  England  town  and  reread  the  story  of  its 
longer  past. 

In  1870  the  people  of  Suffield,  Connecticut,  celebrated  the 
two  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  date  on  which  the  General 
Court  at  Massachusetts  Bay  granted  to  Captain  John  Pynchon, 
Captain  Elizur  Holyoke,  Lieutenant  Thomas  Cooper,  Quarter- 
master George  Colton,  Ensign  Benjamin  Cooley,  and  Rowland 
Thomas  of  Springfield  "liberty  for  the  erecting  of  a  Touneship 
on  the  West  side  of  ye  Ryuer  Connecticott  towards  Windsor." 

In  1920  another  generation  of  the  people  of  Suffield  cele- 
brated the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  that  simple 
but  heroic  beginning  along  an  early  forest  trail. 

The  generation  of  Suffield  men,  who  planned  and  who  parti- 
cipated in  the  celebration  of  1870,  published  a  book  to  mark  the 
event  in  the  old  town's  history;  the  book  is  treasured  in  many 
Suffield  families  today  and  will  be  henceforth. 

Following  in  the  footsteps  of  their  fathers,  the  Suffield  people 
of  today  have  co-operated  to  publish  this  book  to  mark  in  the 
history  of  the  old  town  the  celebration  of  the  two  hundred  and 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  that  same  simple  but  heroic  beginning, 
to  add  something  to  the  record,  and  to  leave  it  as  a  picture  of 
Suffield  as  it  is  in  this  generation  which,  following  others  as  the 
years  pass,  will  ere  long  vanish  from  the  familiar  scenes. 

About   thirty-five   years   before    this   beginning   of   another 


IO  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

township  in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  three  of  the  eight 
towns  then  in  the  struggling  settlement  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
developed  opposition  to  the  authority  of  the  magistrates  and 
a  desire  to  more  extensively  control  their  local  affairs  through 
their  own  elected  boards  of  selectmen.  Ecclesiastical  leaders 
like  John  Warham  and  John  Maverick  of  Dorchester  and 
Thomas  Hooker  and  Samuel  Stone  of  Newtown  and  lay  leaders 
like  John  Haynes  and  William  Pynchon  promoted  democratic 
influences  that  soon  moved  pastors  and  members  of  their  flocks 
to  sell  their  scanty  belongings  to  new  comers  from  England 
and  to  journey,  either  around  by  the  coast  and  up  the  river,  or 
across  the  Massachusetts  wilderness,  to  the  settlement  of  the 
Connecticut  Valley.  Hooker  and  Stone  went  to  Hartford, 
Warham  to  Windsor  and  Pynchon  with  eight  companions  set- 
tled Springfield.  Together  with  Wethersfield  these  primitive 
townships  became  the  centers  of  influence  for  other  settlements 
up  and  down  the  valley  in  the  next  few  years,  and  for  a  brief 
period  all  acted  together  to  order  their  common  affairs,  notwith- 
standing the  assumed  authority  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  William 
Pynchon  and  his  associates  accounted  themselves  a  part  of  the 
Connecticut  colony  and  acted  with  the  other  towns  in  estab- 
lishing their  General  Court  and  government,  after  the  expira- 
tion of  the  Massachusetts  commission  in  1637.  Plans  of  a 
union  of  the  two  colonies  for  mutual  defense,  suggested  by  Hook- 
er, failed  because  Massachusetts  laid  claim  to  jurisdiction  over 
Springfield. 

A  few  years  later  William  Pynchon,  who  had  written  a  book 
much  in  advance  of  his  times,  which  was  burned  on  Boston 
Common,  returned  to  England  and  his  son  Major  John  Pynchon 
became  an  energetic  pioneer  in  the  extension  of  settlements  in 
the  valley.  The  Massachusetts  claim  to  jurisdiction  over 
Springfield  had  been  established  and  two  strong  motives  for 
Major  Pynchon's  enterprise  may  be  distinguished  in  the  records 
he  left — the  extension  of  a  profitable  trade,  especially  in  furs, 
and  a  relief  from  political  loneliness  and  the  perils  of  existence 
in  a  wilderness  in  which  the  Indians,  though  friendly  at  the  time, 
greatly  out-numbered  the  white  settlers.  His  hunters  and  trap- 
pers made  trails  through  the  forests  about  them  and  where 
Suffield  now  is,  spied  out  the  possibilities  for  meadow  lands  up 


QUARTER   MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  II 

and  down  the  river  on  either  side,  and  from  time  to  time,  under 
his  leadership,  encouragement  and  backing  ventured  upon  new 
settlements. 

When  in  1654,  with  Elizur  Holyoke  and  others,  he  petitioned 
the  General  Court  at  Boston  for  liberty  to  erect  a  township 
fifteen  miles  up  the  river,  he  gave  as  one  of  the  reasons,  "We 
being  alone  may  by  this  means  have  some  more  neighborhood." 
To  the  East  lay  an  unbroken  wilderness  of  eighty  miles  between 
them  and  the  nearest  settlement  at  the  Bay.  On  the  North  a 
wilder  forest  stretched  to  Canada;  on  the  West  to  the  Dutch  at 
Albany.  To  the  South  were  the  nearer  Connecticut  settlements, 
but  at  about  this  time  came  a  fresh  crisis  in  the  relations  of 
the  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  Bay  colonies,  and  Major 
Pynchon  found  Springfield  almost  alone  as  a  Massachusetts 
town  on  the  river.  His  petition  of  1654  was  granted  and  thus 
was  Northampton  settled. 

Notwithstanding  disagreements  over  jurisdiction  and  bound- 
aries, these  people,  scattered  up  and  down  the  valley  in  a  com- 
mon struggle  for  existence  and  devoted  to  the  same  religious 
principles,  traded  and  visited  much  with  each  other;  and,  as 
they  traveled  back  and  forth,  there  came  into  use  the  North- 
ampton Road,  running  through  lands  belonging  to  the  Indians 
and  connecting  the  settlements  down  the  river  with  those  above 
— a  road  that  led  through  the  Stony  Brook  region  where  South 
Street,  Remington  Street  and  the  Zion's  Hill  road  now  run. 
On  this  road  was  the  beginning  of  Suffield. 

Doubtless  with  a  vision  of  the  future,  Pynchon  at  various 
times  had  purchased  from  their  Indian  owners  lands  between 
the  uncertain  northern  boundaries  of  Windsor  and  the  southern 
bounds  of  Springfield  and  Westfield — incorporated  in  1669 — 
for  thirty  pounds,  and  with  his  associates  gained  the  liberty 
October  12,  1670  to  erect  a  township.  It  was  later  resold  to 
settlers  as  they  could  be  found,  at  rates  to  yield  him  forty  pounds, 
no  more  and  no  less,  and  it  was  a  long  time  after  he  had  built 
saw  mills  and  corn  mills  on  Stony  Brook  to  promote  settlement, 
after  he  had  rebuilt  them  from  the  ashes  left  by  King  Philip's 
war,  that  he  got  his  money  back.  He  and  his  Springfield  asso- 
ciates held  many  meetings  at  Stony  Brook  in  the  first  few  years, 
and,  if  in  their  reports  there  were  notes  of  discouragement, 


12  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

there  were  also  stronger  notes  of  determination.  In  1672  they 
laid  out  High  Street  and  the  record  adds,  "hereabouts  we  deter- 
mined the  Meeting  House  to  be  set  having  ordered  some  vacant 
land  here  for  a  Training  Place,  etc."  This  was  the  beginning 
of  Suffield  Center  and  the  Common. 

Gradually  the  progenitors  of  the  old  Suffield  families  came, 
at  first  from  Springfield,  later  and  to  a  larger  extent  from  Hart- 
ford and  Windsor,  and  from  Ipswich,  Newbury,  Rowley,  and 
other  towns  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  settlement  where  the 
conflict  between  central  and  local  government  persisted  and 
drove  into  the  Connecticut  valley  an  advanced  type  of  democ- 
racy, destined  to  leave  its  impress  deeply  upon  the  constitu- 
tional forms  of  a  great  republic. 

Though  Suffield  two  generations  later  and  as  a  result  of  its 
own  persistent  inclinations  and  struggles  passed  from  the  juris- 
diction of  Massachusetts  to  that  of  Connecticut,  it  will  ever 
bear  the  imprint  of  the  hard  tasks  and  determined  work  of 
Major  Pynchon.  His  struggle  and  his  triumph  in  the  settle- 
ment of  the  town  may  some  day  gain  a  memorial  more  explicit, 
though  no  more  enduring,  than  the  Common  and  main  highways 
that  he  fashioned  in  the  forests. 

Official  Action 

To  provide  for  the  fitting  observance  of  the  two  hundred  and 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  this  beginning  of  Suffield,  its  townsmen 
in  their  town  meetings  took  the  necessary  official  action  and 
through  their  appointed  committees  made  the  necessary  prep- 
arations for  the  event. 

At  the  annual  town  meeting  of  Suffield  held  October  7,  1918, 
Mr.  Samuel  R.  Spencer  offered  the  following  resolution  which 
was  unanimously  passed. 

Voted:  that  a  preliminary  committee  of  five  be  appointed  by 
the  Assistant  Moderator,  Mr.  George  A.  Peckham,  said  com- 
mittee to  include  himself,  which  committee  is  to  investigate 
the  proper  form  of  celebrating  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  town,  and  to  report  to  the 
annual  town  meeting  in  1919. 

Said  committee  is  also  to  ask  the  Board  of  Finance  to  include 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  13 

in  its  recommendations  such  sum  as  said  committee  may  deem 
ample  to  carry  out  such  celebration. 

At  the  adjourned  Town  Meeting  held  March  I,  1919,  it  was 
voted  that  the  report  of  George  A.  Peckham  appointing  Edward 
A.  Fuller,  Edward  Perkins,  Samuel  R.  Spencer,  HobartG.  Trues- 
dell  and  George  A.  Peckham  as  a  committee  for  the  celebrating 
of  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of 
Suffield,  be  approved  and  placed  on  record. 

This  committee  met  at  the  Suffield  School,  Saturday,  March 
15,  1919,  and  organized  as  follows: 

Edward  A.  Fuller,  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee; 
later  also  Chairman  of  the  Tablet  Committee. 

George  A.  Peckham,  Vice-Chairman  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee; Chairman  of  the  Speakers  and  Program  Committee. 

Samuel  R.  Spencer,  Secretary  of  the  Executive  Committee; 
Chairman  of  the  Historical  Committee. 

H.  G.  Truesdell,  Chairman  of  the  Pageant  Committee. 

Edward  Perkins,  Chairman  of  the  Invitation  Committee. 

An  informal  discussion  of  the  plan  of  the  celebration  took 
place,  and  it  was  decided  to  ask  the  Finance  Committee  to 
recommend  an  appropriation  of  $6,000,  and  this  sum  was  voted 
by  the  Town  at  its  annual  meeting,  October,  I,  1919.  As  the 
scope  of  the  celebration  widened  additional  sums  were  voted  as 
follows:  $1,000,  at  the  special  Town  Meeting  held  in  March, 
1920,  to  make  good  $1,000  of  the  original  appropriation  which 
had  been  used  for  the  Welcome  Home  celebration;  $3,000  at  a 
special  Town  Meeting  held  Saturday,  June  5th,  1920,  for  the 
purchase  of  bronze  tablets  commemorative  of  Suffield's  citizens 
who  have  served  their  country  in  her  various  wars;  $1,500  at 
the  annual  Town  Meeting  held  Monday,  October  4,  1920,  when 
it  was  voted  that  the  Town  appropriate  $1,500  additional  to 
defray  the  expense  of  making  the  Pageant  free;  $500  at  said 
meeting  to  go  toward  the  publishing  of  the  account  of  the  cele- 
bration; a  total  of  $11,000. 

At  the  special  Town  Meeting  held  Wednesday,  March  10, 
1920,  the  following  vote  was  passed: 

Voted:  that  the  matter  of  placing  Soldiers'  and  Sailors' 
Memorial  Tablets  and  having  charge  of  same,  be  left  with  Ed- 
ward A.  Fuller  and  such  committee  as  he  may  desire.  This 


14  QUARTER   MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

committee  subsequently  decided  to  place  the  Tablets  on  the 
Town  Hall  and  to  put  on  them  the  names,  as  far  as  obtainable, 
of  all  who  have  served  in  any  of  the  country's  wars. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  held  in  November, 
1919  Professor  Jack  R.  Crawford  of  Yale  University  was  present 
and  explained  the  nature  and  costs  of  the  Pageant,  and  it  was 
voted  to  engage  him  to  write  and  produce  it.  It  was  also  voted 
to  have  a  three  days'  celebration  commencing  October  12,  1920, 
and  a  tentative  program  was  formulated,  substantially  that 
which  was  carried  out  later  on. 

During  the  winter  of  1919-1920,  the  Executive  Committee 
held  about  twenty  meetings  at  which  the  various  committees 
were  appointed  and  the  details  of  the  celebration  mapped  out. 
Everyone  in  town  co-operated  most  heartily  and  to  this  co-opera- 
tion the  success  of  the  celebration  was  due. 

The  Committees 

The  organization  in  its  honorary  Vice-Presidents  and  Com- 
mittees was  made  representative  of  the  whole  town  and  inclu- 
ded both  those  bearing  the  family  names  of  its  first  settlers  and 
those  who  in  more  recent  years  have  become  its  citizens.  The 
interest  and  service  of  all  was  invited  and  secured  under  the 
direction  of  the  General  Executive  Committee  and  the  chairmen 
of  the  various  committees  for  special  undertakings  and  service. 
This  organization  was  as  follows: 

General  Executive  Committee:  Edward  A.  Fuller,  President, 
George  A.  Peckham,  Vice-President,  Edward  Perkins,  Samuel 
R.  Spencer,  Hobart  G.  Truesdell. 

Honorary  Vice-Presidents,  Henry  Adams,  Joseph  Adams, 
Hugh  M.  Alcorn,  Brainard  L.  Alderman,  Dominic  Alfano, 
Leander  W.  Allen,  Albert  R.  Austin,  Arthur  H.  Austin,  Charles 
T.  Austin,  Curtis  Babb,  John  Barnett,  Sr.,  Samuel  Barr, 
John  Barrisford,  Rev.  Bartkowski,  David  Birge,  David  L. 
Brockett,  Howard  A.  Button,  John  B.  Cannon,  Daniel  N.  Car- 
rington,  George  Clark,  Willette  B.  Clark,  William  A.  Cone, 
John  Conley,  Lewis  J.  Cook,  Luther  N.  Curtis,  James  Davis, 
John  A.  Davis,  Luther  P.  Davis,  Thomas  F.  Devine,  George  A. 
Douglass,  Ephriam  A.  Dunston,  Harlow  F.  Edwards,  Daniel 
Egan,  Horace  G.  Eggleston,  Rev.  Ellison,  Joseph  B.  Fairfield, 
Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley,  Michael  Fleming,  John  Ford,  Ariel  Frost, 
Charles  S.  Fuller,  Dwight  S.  Fuller,  Rev.  Victor  L.  Greenwood, 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  15 

Robert  L.  Greer,  Justin  Griffin,  Servilius  A.  Griswold,  Herbert  E. 
Halladay,  Thomas  S.  Hamilton,  George  A.  Harmon,  Lemuel  F. 
Hart,  Frank  L.  Harvey,  Charles  E.  Haskins,  James  O.  Haskins, 
Frank  E.  Hastings,  James  E.  Hastings,  Charles  Hatheway,  Ern- 
est A.  Hatheway,  George  M.  Hendee,  Egerton  Hemenway,  Rev. 
Hennessey,  Wallace  Holcomb,  Watson  L.  Holcomb,  Edwin  L. 
Humason,  Heman  Humason,  Kirk  Jones,  Luther  A.  Kent,  Frank 
E.  King,  John  A.  King,  Waldo  S.  Knox,  Peter  Kulas,  William 
S.  Larkum,  Hugh  S.  Legare,  Newton  R.  Lewis,  Rev.  William 
A.  Linnaberry,  Horatio  N.  Loomis,  John  B.  Loomis,  Neland 
Loomis,  Seymour  C.  Loomis,  A.  Judson  Lyman,  Rev.  Robert  S. 
MacArthur,  Rev.  Raymond  Maplesden,  George  Martinez, 
Michael  Maziouski,  James  McCarl,  David  McComb,  John 
Merrill,  Christopher  Michel,  Henry  A.  Miller,  Neland  L.  Miller, 
Timothy  Miskell,  Henry  J.  Moran,  Walter  A.  Morgan,  Clinton 
H.  Nelson,  John  W.  Noble,  John  H.  Norton,  John  Orr,  Samuel 
Orr,  Sr.,  George  B.  Parks,  William  H.  Peckham,  C.  Irving 
Pheland,  Julius  V.  Pheland,  Gilbert  W.  Phelps,  Judah  Phelps, 
Oscar  B.  Phillips,  Walter  H.  Pierce,  Oscar  E.  Pitcher,  William 
S.  Pinney,  Luther  O.  Pomeroy,  William  W.  Pomeroy,  Patrick  M. 
Quinn,  Frank  H.  Reid,  Samuel  H.  Reid,  Charles  T.  Remington, 
Lyman  H.  Rice,  Henry  B.  Richmond,  Judson  Rising,  Henry 
J.  Roche,  Henry  D.  Rogers,  George  W.  Root,  James  B.  Rose, 
Irving  L.  Russell,  Fred  A.  Scott,  Edwin  S.  Seymour,  Henry  A. 
Sheldon,  Howard  D.  Sikes,  Willard  C.  Sikes,  Andrew  H.  Smith, 
Rev.  Jesse  F.  Smith,  William  C.  Smith,  Herbert  L.  Spear,  Elbert 
J.  Spelman,  Alfred  Spencer,  Jr.,  Charles  L.  Spencer,  Edward 
Steuer,  Weston  L.  Stiles,  Eben  N.  Stratton,  John  Sullivan, 
Nelson  A.  Talmadge,  Roland  V.  Taylor,  Charles  Terry,  George 
N.  Thompson,  Clinton  D.  Towne,  Seth  Veits,  Isaac  Warner, 
Ewald  Wever,  Rev.  William  W.  Whitman,  Charles  A.  Wilcox, 
William  J.  Wright,  Anthony  Zekowski,  Michael  Zekowski, 

Reception  Committee:  George  A.  Harmon,  Chairman; 
Louis  G.  Allen,  Mrs.  Hattie  S.  Brockett,  Fred  W.  Brown,  Dr. 
William  E.  Caldwell,  Thomas  B.  Cooney,  Amos  B.  Crane, 
Charles  S.  Fuller,  Dwight  S.  Fuller,  Edward  A.  Fuller,  Samuel 
H.  Graham,  Joseph  R.  Gregg,  James  O.  Haskins,  Howard  A. 
Henshaw,  Karl  C.  Kulle,  Charles  R.  Latham,  Matthew  Leahey, 
Sidney  Kent  Legare,  Miss  Alena  F.  Owen,  George  A.  Peckham, 
Edward  Perkins,  Edgar  J.  Phelps,  Judah  Phelps,  William  S. 
Pinney,  William  W.  Pomeroy,  Clifford  H.  Prior,  Henry  B.  Russell, 
Howard  F.  Russell,  Charles  B.  Sheldon,  George  A.  Sheldon, 
Herbert  L.  Spear,  Mrs.  Sara  L.  Spencer,  Samuel  R.  Spencer, 
Weston  L.  Stiles,  George  L.  Warner,  Robert  W.  Warren,  John 
L.  Wilson,  Silas  L.  Wood,  George  B.  Woodruff. 

Invitation  Committee:    Edward  Perkins,  Chairman;   Joseph 


l6  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

J.  Barnett,  Miss  Marjorie  O.  Beach,  John  B.  Cannon,  Francis 
W.  Cavanaugh,  Howard  C.  Cone,  Ralph  B.  Ford,  William  S. 
Fuller,  Marjorie  E.  Halladay,  Howard  A.  Henshaw,  James  O. 
Haskins,  John  L.  Ingraham,  William  C.  King,  Neland  Loomis, 
John  A.  Murphy,  Howard  F.  Pease,  Gilbert  W.  Phelps,  Miss 
Doris  G.  Pomeroy,  Howard  F.  Russell,  Howard  D.  Sikes, 
Charles  L.  Spencer,  Clinton  D.  Towne,  George  L.  Warner. 

Committee  on  Speakers  and  Programs:  George  A.  Peckham, 
Chairman;  Dr.  William  E.  Caldwell,  Terry  J.  Chapin,  Edward 
J.  Rogers,  Philip  Schwartz,  Charles  B.  Sheldon,  Samuel  R. 
Spencer,  Daniel  J.  Sweeney,  George  L.  Warner. 

Historical  Committee:  Samuel  R.  Spencer,  Chairman; 
Louis  G.  Allen,  A.  A.  Brown,  Harold  B.  Chapman,  E.  J. 
Claudell,  William  S.  Fuller,  Miss  Marjorie  E.  Halladay,  Mrs. 
Howard  E.  Hastings,  Karl  C.  Kulle,  Mrs.  Robert  H.  Loomis, 
Miss  Alena  F.  Owen,  Mrs.  William  S.  Pinney,  Howard  F.  Rus- 
sell, Mrs.  A.  C.  Sheldon,  Miss  Madeline  H.  Spencer. 

Tablet  Committee:  Edward  A.  Fuller,  Chairman;  Hugh  M. 
Alcorn,  Louis  G.  Allen,  Albert  R.  Austin,  Mrs.  Charles  C. 
Bissell,  Leroy  Briggs,  Mrs.  Hattie  S.  Brockett,  Marshall  Brown, 
Howard  E.  Caldwell,  John  B.  Cannon,  Nelson  S.  Cole,  John  H. 
Colson,  John  J.  Conley,  William  M.  Cooper,  Amos  B.  Crane, 
Clifford  C.  Creelman,  Luther  N.  Curtis,  William  Deutsch, 
John  E.  Dunn,  Nelson  A.  Fitch,  Sumner  F.  Fuller,  Conrad 
Gardner,  Albert  R.  Goodrich,  Samuel  H.  Graham,  Miss  Mar- 
jorie E.  Halladay,  George  A.  Harmon,  Francis  E.  Hastings, 
Wallace  G.  Hastings,  George  M.  Hendee,  Howard  A.  Henshaw, 
Jurges  Janlowitz,  Robert  S.  Jones,  John  J.  Kennedy,  Anthony 
Kulas,  Karl  C.  Kulle,  Charles  R.  Latham,  Michael  Leahey, 
Carlton  B.  Lees,  Herman  H.  Loomis,  Miss  Gertrude  E.  Mac- 
Arthur,  George  A.  Martinez,  Miss  Frances  O.  Mather,  Christo- 
pher Michel,  James  Mitchell,  Jr.,  Robert  Orr,  Miss  Alena  F. 
Owen,  George  B.  Parks,  Murray  B.  Parks,  Edward  Perkins, 
Newton  T.  Phelon,  Ralph  Raisbeck,  Herbert  E.  Root,  Irving 
L.  Russell,  Herbert  L.  Spear,  Charles  L.  Spencer,  Miss  Madeline 
H.  Spencer,  Samuel  R.  Spencer,  John  Sullivan,  Maximilian 
Svacki,  Charles  Terry,  Harry  C.  Warner,  John  L.  Wilson, 
William  J.  Wilson,  Silas  L.  Wood. 

Parade  Committee:  James  N.  Root,  Chairman;  Joseph  A. 
Anderson,  John  F.  Barnett,  Jr.,  Samuel  Barriesford,  Joseph  F. 
Brackonoski,  Arthur  H.  Bridge,  Howard  E.  Caldwell,  Eugene 
J.  Cronin,  William  T.  Dupont,  John  A.  Eagleson,  Frank  F.  Ford, 
William  S.  Fuller,  Burton  M.  Gillette,  Lemuel  F.  Hart,  George 
B.  Jobes,  Raymond  S.  Kent,  Karl  C.  Kulle,  Perley  D.  Lillie, 
H.  Clement  Mather,  James  Mitchell,  Jr.,  John  W.  Noble, 
Howard  F.  Pease,  Gilbert  W.  Phelps,  J.  Edgar  Phelps,  Judson 


;    EDWARD  4. 

\     FULLER 


GENERAL  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE.  Edward  A.  Fuller,  President  and 
Chairman  Tablet  Committee;  George  A.  Peckham,  Vice-President  and  Chairman 
Speakers  and  Program  Committee;  Samuel  R.  Spencer,  Secretary  and  Chairman 
Historical  Committee;  Hobart  G.  Truesdell,  Chairman  Pageant  Committee; 
Edward  Perkins,  Chairman  Invitation  Committee. 


CHAIRMEN  OF  SPECIAL  COMMITTEES 
Samuel  H.  Graham  George  A.  Harmon  James  N.  Root 


Decoration 

E.  C.  Stratton 

Housing,  Information 


Reception,  Collation 
Mrs.  Edward  A.  Fuller 

Hostess  House 

T.  J.  Nicholson 

Transportation 


Parade 

Charles  F.  Kurvin 

Community  Dance 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  l"J 

L.  Phelps,  William  S.  Pinney,  Henry  J.  Roche,  Howard  A.  Shel- 
don, Frank  S.  Smith,  Harry  C.  Warner,  Edward  M.  White. 

Dance  Committee:  Charles  F.  Kurvin,  Chairman;  Joseph 
Barr,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  S.  Bidwell,  Jr.,  William  H.  Bridge, 
William  Culver,  Horace  G.  Eggleston,  Charles  Goodacre,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Joseph  P.  Graham,  Mrs.  P.  W.  Jones,  Anthony  Kulas, 
Carlton  B.  Lees,  Winfield  H.  Loomis,  James  Mitchell,  Jr., 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harold  C.  Nelson,  Mrs.  Fordham  C.  Russell, 
Hanford  Taylor,  Clive  I.  Thompson,  Miss  M.  M.  Thompson. 

Committee  on  Decorations:  Samuel  H.  Graham,  Chairman; 
Ernest  N.  Austin,  Arthur  N.  Beach,  Charles  R.  Brome,  John  J. 
Devine,  James  Eagleson,  Robert  B.  Edwards,  Raymond  Eg- 
gleston, Ralph  B.  Ford,  Mrs.  Joseph  A.  Gibbs,  Mrs.  Joseph  P' 
Graham,  Paul  W.  Jones,  Adolph  L.  Koster,  James  Mix,  Samuel 
J.  Orr,  Thomas  H.  Smith,  Ward  Spaulding. 

Committee  on  Publications:  Henry  B.  Russell,  Chairman; 
Rev.  Daniel  R.  Kennedy,  William  H.  Nelson. 

Transportation  Committee:  T.  J.  Nicholson,  Chairman; 
J.  F.  Barnett,  Jr.,  Arthur  G.  Bissell,  Thomas  F.  Cavanaugh, 
Samuel  J.  Colter,  John  Eagleson,  John  Fitzgerald,  Albert  R. 
Ford,  Harvey  N.  Fuller,  John  H.  Gregg,  C.  E.  Hanford,  G.  M. 
Hastings,  Nelson  A.  Humason,  George  B.  Jobes,  Matthew 
Leahey,  James  F.  Lennon,  P.  D.  Lillie,  Clement  H.  Mather, 
Charles  T.  O'Brien,  John  O'Malley,  Gordon  L.  Sikes,  James 
Sullivan,  Roland  J.  C.  Wetherell,  George  O.  Wilcox. 

Hostess  House  Committee:  Mrs.  Edward  A.  Fuller,  Chair- 
man; Mr.  and  Mrs.  Oley  L.  Allen,  Mrs.  Arthur  N.  Beach,  Mrs. 
L.  P.  Bissell,  Mrs  Frank  Brockett,  Dr.  H.  M.  Brown,  Mrs.  O. 
R.  Bugbee,  Mrs.  W.  G.  Fennell,  Mrs.  Charles  S.  Fuller, 
Sumner  F.  Fuller,  Mrs.  D.  W.  Goodale,  Mrs.  S.  H.  Graham, 
Mrs.  Edmund  Halladay,  Mrs.  F.  B.  Hatheway,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Karl  C.  Kulle,  Mrs.  Clinton  H.  Nelson,  Mrs.  William  H.  Nelson, 
Miss  Emma  L.  Newton,  Miss  Alena  F.  Owen,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Howard  F.  Pease,  Mrs.  Edward  Perkins,  Miss  Myra  Phelps, 
Mrs.  A.  R.  Pierce,  Mrs.  H.  D.  Sikes,  Mrs.  C.  C.  Spencer,  Mrs. 
Charles  L.  Spencer,  Mrs.  C.  Luther  Spencer,  Jr.,  Mrs.  P.  W. 
Street,  Mrs.  Carolyn  F.  Sutton,  D.  J.  Sweeney,  Mrs.  S.  L. 
Wood. 

Housing  and  Information  Committee:  E.  C.  Stratton,  Chair- 
man; Arthur  L.  Bessett,*  Willis  L.  Chapel,  Alfred  M.  Gay,  Dr. 
J.  A.  Gibbs,  Hiram  Jones,  George  L.  Parks,  N.  A.  Talmadge. 

Collation  Committee:  George  A.  Harmon,  Chairman; 
George  L.  Creelman,  F.  F.  Ford,  Henry  Fuller,  T.  H.  Hauser, 
Dr.  W7illiam  Levy,  Harry  Kehoe,  George  A.  Martinez,  B.  A. 
Thompson,  Harry  Woodworth, 


l8  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 


Pageant  Committees 

Executive:  H.  G.  Truesdell,  Chairman;  Mrs.  C.  C.  Bissell, 
William  S.  Fuller,  Mrs.  George  A.  Harmon,  Charles  R.  Latham, 
Mrs.  George  A.  Peckham,  William  S.  Pinney,  James  N.  Root, 
Charles  L.  Spencer,  Samuel  R.  Spencer. 

Business,  Finance,  Tickets:  Charles  L.  Spencer,  Chairman; 
Charles  S.  Bissell,  Arthur  H.  Bridge,  Charles  R.  Brome,  O.  R. 
Bugbee,  Howard  C.  Cone,  Edwin  A.  Culver,  Sumner  F.  Fuller, 
Egerton  Hemenway,  George  M.  Hendee,  Karl  C.  Kulle,  John 
Noble,  Howard  F.  Pease,  J.  E.  Phelps,  Samuel  N.  Reid,  Allen 
C.  Scott,  Alfred  C.  Sheldon,  F.  H.  Sheldon,  Lawrence  Sikes, 
C.  Luther  Spencer,  Jr.,  Edward  M.  White. 

Publicity:  Charles  R.  Latham,  Chairman;  Robert  Chew, 
Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley,  George  R.  Fowler,  Joseph  P.  Graham, 
Morton  S.  Harris,  Frank  M.  Kearns,  William  C.  King,  William 
C.  O'Neil,  Harold  K.  Perkins,  Judson  L.  Phelps,  S.  N.  Reid, 
Fordham  C.  Russell,  Howard  R.  Sheldon,  Edwin  G.  Warner. 

Music:  Mrs.  Charles  C.  Bissell,  Chairman;  Mrs.  Fred 
Brockett,  Mrs.  W.  E.  Caldwell,  Miss  Mary  Cooper,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Thomas  E.  Couch,  Amos  B.  Crane,  Mrs.  L.  H.  Creelman, 
E.  G.  Hastings,  Miss  Grace  M.  Hastings,  Miss  Margaret  Hathe- 
way,  Mrs  Marshall  L.  Moulton,  Mrs.  Frank  H.  Reid,  Mrs. 
James  N.  Root,  Mrs.  I.  L.  Russell,  George  A.  Sheldon,  L.  H. 
Sikes,  Mrs.  Bernard  L.  Sutton,  Mrs.  Charles  F.  Whittemore. 

Costumes  and  Make-up:  Mrs.  George  A.  Harmon,  Chairman; 
Mrs.  William  Ailing,  Miss  Mary  E.  Atwater,  Samuel  Barriesford, 
Mrs.  William  M.  Cooper,  Mrs.  Howard  C.  Cone,  Mrs.  James 
Eagleson,  Mrs.  W.  S.  Fuller,  Mrs.  Charles  C.  Haskins,  Mrs. 
Adolf  L.  Koster,  Miss  Julia  Leach,  Sidney  Kent  Legare,  Miss 
Nellie  Lipps,  James  O'Malley,  Mrs.  Joseph  Patterson,  Mrs. 
William  W.  Pomeroy,  Miss  Mary  Roche,  Mr.  C.  Luther  Spencer, 
Jr.,  Mrs.  J.  P.  Spencer,  Mrs.  Daniel  J.  Sweeney,  Mrs.  H.  G. 
Truesdell,  George  L.  Warner,  Miss  Minnie  A.  Wilson,  Mrs. 
George  B.  Woodruff. 

Cast  and  Rehearsal:  Mrs.  George  A.  Peckham,  Chairman; 
Mrs.  H.  M.  Alcorn,  Mrs.  Louis  G.  Allen,  Mrs.  E.  N.  Austin, 
Mrs.  James  Barnett,  Miss  Mary  Bawn,  Mrs.  C.  C.  Bissell, 
Charles  S.  Bissell,  Mrs.  Charles  S.  Bissell,  Mrs.  David  L.  Broc- 
kett, Miss  Lena  E.  Brown,  Miss  Florence  M..Cone,  Miss  Bertha 
Corrigan,  Mrs.  Annie  Covington,  Mrs.  Edward  Culver,  Mrs.  L. 
I.  Fuller,  Charles  E.  Goodacre,  Mrs.  J.  P.  Graham,  Mrs.  Eger- 
ton Hemenway,  Mrs.  George  F.  Holloway,  Mrs.  E.  G.  Hubbard, 
Mrs.  Alfred  C.  King,  Miss  Victoria  Kulas,  Mrs.  P.  D.  Lillie, 
Miss  Frances  O.  Mather,  Mrs.  James  Mix,  Mrs  Spencer  Mont- 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  19 

gomery,  Mrs.  T.  J.  Nicholson,  Miss  Sadie  Nicholson,  A.  P. 
Phillips,  H.  Leslie  Pomeroy,  Mrs.  H.  Leslie  Pomeroy,  Mrs. 
James  H.  Prophett,  Mrs.  Charles  A.  Prout,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Rem- 
ington, Mrs.  Philip  Schwartz,  Miss  Talulah  Sikes,  D.  F.  Sisson, 
Earl  Spaulding,  Mrs.  S.  R.  Spencer,  Mrs.  Herbert  T.  Stiles' 
Mrs.  George  L.  Warner,  Mrs.  Harry  C.  Warner,  Miss  Minnie 
E.  Welch,  Miss  Lucille  M.  Wilson,  Joseph  Zukowski. 

Stage,  Grounds,  and  Properties:  W.  S.  Fuller,  Chairman; 
Arthur  Adams,  Samuel  Adams,  Charles  T.  Austin,  Andrew  S. 
Barr,  Thatcher  G.  Belfit,  Myron  A.  Blakeslee,  Charles  R. 
Brome,  A.  A.  Brown,  Myron  Canfield,  Jerry  Deneen,  Howard 
Edwards,  Charles  Firtion,  Adam  Fusick,  Jr.,  Adam  Fusick,  Sr., 
Bernie  E.  Griffin,  August  Hauser,  Arthur  L.  Jackson,  Price 
Jones,  Patrick  Keohane,  C.  D.  King,  George  F.  King,  Spencer 
Montgomery,  Joseph  Patterson,  Henry  W.  Phelps,  Herbert  E. 
Root,  Brownislaw  Sobocenski,  Edward  M.  White. 

Parking  and  Policing:  George  B.  Woodruff,  Chairman; 
George  W.  Adams,  Thomas  Ahearn,  Fred  A.  Anderson,  Joseph 
A.  Anderson,  Nelson  Babb,  Thomas  M.  Burke,  James  T.  Cain, 
John  F.  Carroll,  Frank  Cowles,  George  L.  Greer,  Jeremiah  M. 
Hayes,  Alvah  Hinckley,  James  Jones,  Frank  L.  Kent,  Samuel 
G.  Lathrop,  Allen  McCann,  Harry  L.  Oppenheimer,  Joseph 
Prekop,  George  D.  Remington,  Frank  M.  Rising,  Fred  J.  Scott, 
Bernard  Sikes,  Erwin  E.  Stratton,  Herbert  Wallace. 

With  the  generous  co-operation  of  local  advertisers  and  many 
in  neighboring  places,  the  committee  prepared  and  printed  an 
edition  of  8000  of  the  official  program — a  handsome  pamphlet 
of  over  sixty  pages  which  was  distributed  gratis  during  the 
celebration.  Besides  the  program  of  exercises  it  contained  the 
lists  of  committees,  the  synopsis  of  the  Pageant  furnished  by 
Professor  Crawford,  the  cast  of  characters,  a  list  of  the  old 
houses  that  the  Historical  Committee  had  marked,  and  the  whole 
bore  on  the  cover  an  illustration  of  the  Gay  Manse  built  in  1742 
by  the  first  Ebenezer  Gay  who  at  about  that  time  began  his 
long  pastorate  in  the  town. 

The  Invitation  Committee  prepared  a  general  invitation 
which  was  sent  to  people  of  Suffield,  and  a  large  number  of 
former  residents  and  descendants  of  Suffield  families.  The 
Tablet  Committee  secured  practically  complete  rolls  of  the 
Suffield  men  serving  in  the  wars  of  the  country  and  contracted 
for  two  bronze  tablets  which,  at  the  suggestion  of  service  men 
in  the  recent  World  War,  were  placed  on  the  front  wall  of  the 


2O  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

Town  Hall.  The  Decorations  Committee  contracted  for  the 
decoration  of  the  public  buildings  and  the  people  of  Main  street 
co-operated  in  the  general  decoration  of  their  residences.  The 
Committees  on  Parade,  on  the  Community  Dance,  on  Trans- 
portation, on  the  Hostess  House,  on  Housing,  and  Information, 
on  Collation  and  on  Reception  made  the  complete  and  necessary 
arrangements  for  the  successful  co-ordination  of  the  events  of  the 
celebration. 

One  of  the  largest  committees  and  one  to  which  a  very  large 
amount  of  work  fell  was  the  Pageant  Committee.  It  was 
organized  into  several  special  committees  to  cover  all  the  neces- 
sary arrangements  for  the  imposing  pageant  that  was  produced 
on  the  second  day  of  the  celebration.  Much  of  the  work  was 
done  in  the  six  weeks  preceding  the  celebration  and  when  the 
time  arrived  the  whole  ambitious  program  was  complete  in  its 
many  details. 

Each  committee  organized  to  prepare  for  and  to  perform  the 
function  in  the  celebration  assigned  to  it.  The  Committee  on 
Speakers  and  Programs  arranged  the  following  general  program 
of  exercises: 

Program 

TUESDAY,  OCTOBER  I2TH 
First  Congregational  Church,  IDA.  M. 

OPENING  EXERCISES 

PRAYER — Rev.  V.  L.  Greenwood. 

Music — "  Coronation." 

ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME — Hon.  Hugh  M.  Alcorn. 

RESPONSE — Hon.  Seymour  C.  Loomis,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Music — Quartette,  "China."   (Written  by  Timothy  Swan  of 

Suffield  about  1800.) 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  E.  Couch  of  Suffield,  Miss  Ruth  G. 

Remington  of  Suffield,  Mr.  Robert  Winn  Jones  of  Hartford. 
HISTORICAL  ADDRESS — William  Lyon  Phelps,  Ph.D., 

Lampson  Professor  of  English,  Yale  University. 
Music — "America." 
BENEDICTION. 

2.00P.M.    COLLATION. 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 


21 


I. 

2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 


CONCERT  TUESDAY  EVENING,  OCT.  I2TH, 

7  to  8  P.  M. 
iO4th  Regiment  Band 

MARCH,  "Flag  of  Victory," 
OVERTURE,  "Prince  of  India," 
CONCERT  WALTZ,  "Jolly  Fellows," 
SELECTION,  "Mile.  Modiste," 
DESCRIPTIVE,  "Hunting  Scene," 
SONGS  OF  UNCLE  SAM 
FINALE,  "Stars  and  Stripes," 

8.  P.  M.     Dance. 


1920 


Von  Blon 

King 

Vollstedt 

Herbert 

Bucalossi 

Hosmer 

Sousa 


WEDNESDAY,  OCTOBER  I3TH 
Second  Baptist  Church,  10  A.  M. 

PRAYER — Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley. 

ORGAN  RECITAL — Professor  William  C.  Hammond,  Holyoke, 

Mass. 

SOLO — Miss  Marie  Roszelle,  Hartford,  Conn. 
ADDRESS — "Pilgrim's  Progress.     1620  to  1920."    Rev.  Stephen 

S.  Wise,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  New  York  City. 
Music— "Blest  Be  the  Tie  that  Binds." 
BENEDICTION. 

2.00  P.  M.     Pageant. 
7.30  P.  M.     Be  at  Home. 


THURSDAY,  OCTOBER 

CONCERT  OCT.  i4th,  1920,  8  A.  M.  to  9  A.  M. 
iO4th  Regiment  Band 


1.  MARCH,  "Pasadina  Day," 

2.  OVERTURE,  "Chival  De  Bronze," 

3.  CONCERT  WALTZ,  "Blue  Danube," 

4.  SELECTION,  "Maritana," 

5.  DESCRIPTIVE,  Fantasia  "Over  the  Top," 

6.  FINALE,  "The  Regiment  Return," 

9  A.  M. — Parade. 
10  A.  M. — Dedication  of  Tablets. 
ADDRESS — Mr.  Henry  B.  Russell. 
1.30  P.  M. — Transportation  for  any  desiring  to  see  their  old 

home. 
3.30  P.  M. — Football  game. 


Vesseila 
Auber 
Straus 

Wallace 
Luders 
Crosby 


22  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 


A  Sabbath  Prelude 

The  services  in  the  First  Congregational  and  Second  Baptist 
Churches  on  Sunday  October  loth  constituted  an  appropriate 
prelude  to  the  official  exercises  of  the  celebration  of  the  quarter- 
millennial  of  the  town  with  whose  life  and  well  being  they,  with 
other  churches,  had  been  long  and  inseparably  connected.  An 
Old  Time  Sunday  was  observed  in  the  First  Congregational 
church  whose  establishment  was  practically  coincident  with  the 
settlement  of  the  town,  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  Victor  L. 
Greenwood,  preaching  on  "The  Golden  Present"  at  the  morn- 
ing service.  He  compared  the  religious  conceptions  and  customs 
of  early  colonial  days  with  those  of  the  present  and  spoke  of  the 
development  of  the  greater  spirit  of  freedom  and  the  expanded 
conception  of  love  in  the  Christian  faith. 

At  the  same  hour  in  the  Second  Baptist  Church  the  pastor, 
Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley,  preached  a  historical  sermon  on  the  sub- 
ject, "  Suffield's  Witness  to  the  World."  He  traced  the  develop- 
ment of  the  town  in  its  relations  to  religion,  education,  material 
affairs  and  the  country. 

At  the  noon  hour  and  in  accordance  with  the  purpose  of  re- 
producing features  of  an  Old  Time  Sunday,  the  people  of  the 
First  Congregational  church  and  those  uniting  with  them 
gathered  in  the  church  or  on  the  green,  ate  the  luncheons  they 
had  brought  with  them  and  enjoyed  a  social  hour.  At  2  o'clock 
the  church  bell  again  rang  for  the  afternoon  service  in  which 
members  of  other  churches  in  town  united.  At  this  service  Rev. 
Percy  E.  Thomas  of  Rockville  spoke  upon  "The  Pilgrims' 
Sources  of  Inspiration." 


TUESDAY,  THE  FIRST  DAY 


Historical  Exercises  at  the  First  Congregational  Church 

Old  Suffield  appropriately  opened  its  official  celebration  of 
the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  its  settlement  with 
a  welcome  to  many  sons  and  daughters  returning  to  their  native 
soil,  to  descendants  of  old  families  long  ago  transplanted  in  other 
States,  and  to  visitors  from  neighboring  cities  and  towns  with 
whose  early  history  its  own  was  interwoven.  With  these  gath- 
ered the  present  residents  of  Suffield  to  review  the  history,  renew 
acquaintances  and  revive  memories. 

Main  street — the  High  street  of  the  original  settlement  and 
the  old  records — was  bright  with  mingled  autumnal  and  national 
colors;  at  first  under  a  leaden  sky,  which  later  cleared  and  re- 
vealed the  natural  beauty  of  one  of  the  fairest  of  old  New  Eng- 
land streets  in  holiday  attire.  The  Town  Hall,  the  business 
blocks,  the  churches,  the  library,  the  Suffield  School  buildings 
and  the  dwellings  were  tastefully  decorated  with  flags  and  bunt- 
ing, their  colors  gleaming  through  the  tinted  foliage,  hanging 
above  the  broad  street  and  historic  Common,  rich  in  town  and 
family  traditions  of  two  and  one  half  centuries. 

The  historical  exercises  were  held  in  the  First  Congregational 
Church.  The  present  edifice,  the  fourth  in  descent  from  the 
first  Meeting  House,  was  completed  in  1870  shortly  before  the 
celebration  of  the  Bi-Centennial.  In  this  church  and  on  this  day, 
October  I2th,  as  fifty  years  before,  the  people  gathered  to  re- 
trace the  years. 

Seated  on  the  platform  were  Mr.  Edward  A.  Fuller,  chairman 
of  the  General  Committee,  Mr.  George  A.  Peckham,  the  vice- 
chairman,  Rev.  Victor  L.  Greenwood,  pastor  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational Church,  Rev.  Jesse  Smith,  pastor  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church,  Rev.  Dryden  Phelps  of  New  Haven,  Mr.  Sey- 
mour C.  Loomis  of  New  Haven,  Professor  William  Lyon  Phelps 
of  New  Haven  and  His  Excellency,  Marcus  L.  Holcomb, 
Governor  of  Connecticut. 


24  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

Following  a  prayer  by  Rev.  Victor  L.  Greenwood  and  the 
singing  of  "Coronation"  by  the  congregation,  Mr.  George  A. 
Peckham,  read  the  following  letter  from  Hon.  Hugh  M.  Alcorn, 
one  of  Suffield's  sons  and  residents  and  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Connecticut  Bar,  who  had  been  chosen  to  deliver  the  ad- 
dress of  welcome: 

October  6,  1920 
Mr.  George  A.  Peckham,  Chairman, 

Speakers'  Committee,  Two  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary, 

Suffield,  Conn. 
My  dear  Mr.  Peckham: 

I  am  very  sorry  to  advise  you  that  I  cannot  deliver  the  Ad- 
dress of  Welcome  on  the  I2th  instant,  and  I  would  appreciate 
it  very  much  if  you  would  take  my  place  upon  that  day.  Early 
last  Spring  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  on  motion 
of  opposing  counsel,  advanced  for  argument  a  very  important 
case  in  which  I  am  engaged  and  assigned  it  for  October  I2th  at 
twelve  o'clock  noon.  I  have  ever  since  been  expecting,  Micaw- 
berlike,  that  something  might  turn  up  to  enable  me  to  stay  in 
Suffield,  but  I  now  know  definitely  that  I  am  doomed  to  dis- 
appointment. I  deeply  regret  that  my  professional  obligations 
require  me  to  be  in  Washington  at  that  time. 

Sincerely  yours, 

(Signed)     HUGH  M.  ALCORN. 


Mr.  Peckham  thereupon  extended  a  welcome  in  behalf  of 
the  town  and  its  people  in  these  words: 

It  is  with  deepest  regret  that  our  committee  announces  that 
our  honored  fellow  townsman,  State  Attorney  Hugh  M.  Alcorn, 
is  unable  to  be  with  us  today  to  deliver  the  address  of  welcome. 

Not  being  accustomed  to  the  writing  or  the  delivering  of  an 
address,  I  find  only  two  reasons  for  my  appearing  before  you  at 
this  time:  First,  by  request  of  Mr.  Alcorn;  second  as  a  native 
of  SufHeld  and  a  descendant  of  a  native  of  Suffield,  for  although 
my  parents  were  not  born  in  Suffield,  my  grandmother,  Susan 
Smith,  was  born  at  what  is  now  called  "Wards  Corner"  in 
West  Suffield,  August  27,  1800.  Also  as  a  direct  descendant  of 
George  Phelps,  who  came  to  America  in  1630,  and  settled  in 
Windsor,  Conn.,  in  1635,  I  naturally  feel  not  only  a  great  inter- 
est in  Suffield,  but  also  in  the  State  of  Connecticut.  Two  hun- 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  25 

dred  fifty  years  ago  our  forefathers  laid  the  foundation  of  this 
beautiful  town. 

Today  I  extend  a  hearty  welcome  to  the  citizens  of  Suffield, 
to  all  former  residents,  to  the  chief  executive  of  our  State,  his 
staff,  and  other  state  officials,  to  the  Mayor  of  Springfield, 
Massachusetts,  who  represents  our  mother  city,  to  the  select- 
men of  Blandford,  Massachusetts,  who  represent  our  only 
daughter  of  early  days,  and  to  all  interested  in  the  commemorat- 
ing of  Suffield's  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary. 

We  meet  here  to  honor  those  who  in  the  early  days  so  well 
laid  the  foundations  for  future  generations  and  all  time.  To 
those  born  and  educated  here  many  happy  memories  of  old 
times  fill  your  hearts  today;  many  times  in  years  past  have 
your  thoughts  wandered  back  to  your  childhood  days,  and  how 
happy  are  you  to  return  and  shake  hands  with  relatives  and 
early  companions,  and  view  the  beautiful  spacious  streets  of 
old  Suffield;  equally  happy  are  we  to  extend  these  greetings  to 
you. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  how  many  people  are  sensible  of 
the  joys  of  these  pleasant  memories.  Fifty  years  ago  a  similar 
natal  day  was  observed  in  this  same  church.  Many  of  the  then 
familiar  faces  are  gone,  others  have  come  to  fill  their  places. 
Although  strangers  to  you,  they  extend  most  cordial  greetings, 
for  they  are  honored  by  your  presence. 

Finally,  in  behalf  of  the  executive  committee  of  this  anni- 
versary, the  town  officers  and  all  citizens  of  Suffield,  I  extend 
to  every  one  present  a  sincere  welcome  to  all  the  exercises  com- 
memorating the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
founding  of  dear  old  Suffield. 

Mr.  Seymour  C.  Loomis  of  New  Haven,  a  native  of  Suffield 
and  grandson  of  the  late  Daniel  W.  Norton,  who  was  chairman 
of  the  General  Committee  of  the  Bi-Centennial  Celebration  of 
1870,  delivered  the  following  response: 

It  is  with  deep  appreciation  of  the  honor  and  of  the  grace  and 
confidence  of  the  committee  in  charge  of  the  celebration  of  the 
quarter  millennium  of  this  community  that  I  respond  in  behalf 
of  the  visitors  to  the  eloquent  and  cordial  welcome  just  given  by 
your  distinguished  townsman.  Had  I  the  mind  of  Dr.  Gay  and 
Dr.  Ives  and  the  facile  and  logical  expression  of  General  Lyman, 


26  QUARTER   MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

Judge  Granger  and  Calvin  Philleo,  I  might  be  able  to  adequately 
convey  the  feelings  of  the  guests. 

With  hosts  so  distinguished  and  so  generous  as  the  town  of 
Suffield  and  her  citizens,  it  becomes  us  to  tender  our  heartfelt 
gratitude  for  your  pains  and  thoughts,  for  your  hard  work  and 
personal  attention,  that  made  possible  this  magnificent  cele- 
bration. Such  an  affair  as  this  is  not  conceived  in  a  moment, 
nor  accomplished  in  a  day.  It  means  much  anxiety  and  sacri- 
fice to  those  who  father  and  mother  it.  But  permit  me  to  say 
to  you  that  the  subject  of  your  labors  justifies  all  that  you  have 
done  and  planned  to  do.  Its  influence  has  been  and  will  be  felt 
as  the  years  roll  by. 

We  celebrate  today  the  foundation  of  a  town  that,  with  a  few 
others,  made  possible  the  colonies  of  Massachusetts  and  Con- 
necticut. Until  1749,  against  her  will,  she  remained  a  part  of 
Massachusetts  though  really  from  the  beginning  she  was  a  vital 
force  in  Connecticut.  The  former  colony  was  loath  to  give  her 
up  and  she  was  assessed  for  twenty  years  after  but  the  taxes 
were  never  collected.  As  a  balm  to  assuage  the  grief  of  Massa- 
chusetts that  colony  was  allowed  to  take  those  beautiful  sheets 
of  water  known  in  my  boyhood  days  as  Southwick  Ponds,  a 
place  which  I  always  love  to  visit. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  reason  why  Suffield  went  to  Con- 
necticut was  to  avoid  the  payment  of  the  taxes  of  Massachusetts. 
But  at  the  time  she  first  evinced  a  desire  to  be  a  part  of  the 
Constitution  State  there  were  no  taxes  accrued,  and  an  unpreju- 
diced study  of  history,  I  think,  reveals  the  fact  that  she  preferred 
Connecticut  for  basic  reasons  and,  of  course,  in  any  form  of 
statecraft  taxation  is  of  much  importance. 

It  is  certain  that  Connecticut  with  her  representative  govern- 
ment under  her  Fundamental  Orders  of  1639,  the  first  written 
constitution  given  to  the  world,  was  more  attractive  to  the  wise 
men  and  women  of  Suffield  than  even  the  benign  Common- 
wealth of  Massachusetts.  Thus,  in  those  early  days,  in  the 
formative  period,  which  afterwards  resulted  in  the  Republic, 
Suffield,  though  originally  a  part  of  goodly  Massachusetts,  saw 
with  a  keen  eye  and  unerring  judgment  the  advantages  of  being 
under  a  rule  of  law,  which  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  afterward 
was  the  nucleus  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  a  document  which 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  2.J 

has  stood  the  test  of  peace  and  war  for  more  than  a  century  and 
is  at  the  present  time  a  model  to  all  peoples,  who  have  the  brains 
and  sense  to  govern  themselves.  This  does  not  mean  that  each 
individual  or  even  a  small  or  large  group  of  individuals  can  do 
as  they  like,  but  that,  as  under  our  system,  the  most  benign,  we 
believe,  on  earth,  each  person  should  have  his  share  in  the 
electorate,  should  be  given  a  fair  opportunity  to  have  his  rights 
and  remedies  in  a  court,  not  of  favor,  but  of  law,  and  should 
have  executives  capable  of  execution. 

Though  a  boy  of  eight  years  at  the  time  of  the  Bi-Centennial 
in  1870,  I  distinctly  remember  the  events  of  that  great  day. 
The  greeting  of  the  visitors  at  the  end  of  the  Suffield  branch,  as 
far  as  it  was  then  completed  just  north  of  the  bridge  over  the 
straight  road  to  Windsor  Locks,  as  they  came  sliding  down  the 
bank,  was  unique.  They  received,  however,  a  most  friendly 
welcome  and  were  taken  in  carriages  to  the  park  about  which, 
the  same  as  today,  the  exercises  were  conducted. 

Of  the  many  interesting  events  and  functions  the  one  which 
seemed  then  to  impress  me  the  most  was  enacted  in  the  immense 
tent  pitched  upon  the  central  park.  It  was  the  sturdy  frame  of 
Captain  Phelps  then  past  eighty-six  years  old.  His  countenance 
bore  testimony  to  his  rugged  life.  I  had  heard  the  stories  of  his 
prowess  with  the  Hartford  pugilist  and  of  his  ox-like  strength 
on  the  mountainside  and,  though  his  voice  was  indistinct,  his 
stature  and  the  furrows  of  his  face  reflected  clearly  his  strong 
and  useful  life. 

Usually  a  child  has  little  character  delineated  on  its  face, 
but  with  advancing  years,  the  painters  say,  the  result  of  all  the 
good  and  evil  that  a  man  has  done  and  thought  is  etched  upon 
his  countenance  in  lines  which  a  discerning  eye  can  read  as 
plainly  as  in  a  printed  book.  So  Rembrandt,  the  great  master 
in  portraying  character,  loved  above  all  the  elder  faces  and  he 
makes  them  tell  their  story. 

It  is  within  the  province  of  Apollos  Phelps'  worthy  kinsman 
to  detail  today  the  history  of  the  town,  but  I  ask  your  permis- 
sion to  briefly  allude  to  a  few  subjects,  which  have  come  under 
my  personal  observation  during  the  last  fifty  years,  the  first 
eight  of  which  I  spent,  along  with  many  other  Suffield  boys  of 
that  time  attending  school,  "doing  chores"  and  working  on  the 


28  QUARTER   MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

ground.  The  education  thus  received  I  prize  second  to  none  I 
ever  had.  To  be  able  to  work  regularly  about  a  farm,  when  one 
is  in  the  graded  and  preparatory  schools,  is  a  privilege,  if  not 
then  understood,  certainly  appreciated  in  later  life.  The  train- 
ing out  of  doors  in  regularity  and  in  practical  ways  of  doing 
things  is  a  valuable  complement  to  the  mental  instruction.  The 
time  is  fast  coming,  if  it  is  not  already  here,  when  men  will  go 
back  to  the  land.  Food  products  are  the  country's  greatest 
need  and  will  always  continue  to  be.  Suffield,  with  her  wonder- 
ful soil  and  climatic  conditions  peculiarly  adapted  to  tobacco, 
a  crop  which  even  in  its  growing  is  a  delight  to  the  soul,  is  in 
agriculture  pre-eminent. 

It  is  said  that  as  one  matures  his  sincerest  gratitude  goes  out 
to  the  teachers  of  his  youth,  who  have  conscientiously  given  to 
him  of  their  life.  Such  to  me  were  Miss  Rising,  Miss  Halladay, 
afterwards  Mrs.  Dr.  Mason,  Miss  Nichols,  now  Mrs.  Sterling, 
Miss  Fuller,  afterwards  Mrs.  Will  Pease,  Miss  Comey,  John 
Coats,  Principal  Shores,  George  Rigler,  Marcus  Johnson,  Ed 
Vose,  Thomas  Gladding  and  Mr.  Marsh.  I  remember  how 
scared  I  was  the  first  day  at  the  little  district  school  in  that  part 
of  the  town  hall  where  the  post  office  now  is  (Arthur  Austin  and 
Ed  Perkins  and  others  will  remember  it),  and  how  Mr.  Dwight 
Ives,  of  the  school  committee,  gave  me  words  of  encouragement. 
It  was  doubtless  a  small  thing  to  him  but  it  was  a  big  thing  for 
me  and  something  I  have  never  forgotten. 

I  remember  the  old  Dace  Hole  of  Stony  Brook  where  we  went 
bathing,  or  swimming  as  we  called  it,  and  Sherman's  Hill  and 
the  church  hill  and  back  of  the  Institution  where  we  used  to 
slide  down  on  the  snow  and  ice  with  rippers  and  double  rippers. 

In  1878  my  father  and  mother  moved  to  New  Haven,  an 
undertaking  to  them  attended  with  considerable  courage  and 
sacrifice,  done  largely,  I  believe,  that  I  might  go  to  college, 
thus  creating  a  debt  on  my  part  to  which  I  subscribe  my 
acknowledgment.  But  I  hated  to  leave  Suffield  and  many  a 
homesick  day  I  had  for  the  old  place.  Since  that  time  to  the 
present,  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  visit  my  native  town  at 
more  or  less  frequent  intervals.  I  have  noticed  the  changes, 
which  have  been  gradual  but  in  the  aggregate  enormous.  Of 
the  older  ones  I  used  to  know  who  have  gone  to  their  great 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  29 

reward  are  Dr.  Rising,  my  grandfather  Daniel  W.  Norton,  the 
president  of  the  committee  of  fifty  years  ago,  Deacon  Horace 
Sheldon,  the  brothers  Samuel,  Homer  and  Albert  Austin, 
Nathan  and  Silas  Clark,  John,  Wells,  Byron,  William,  Charles, 
Frank  and  Burritt  Loomis,  Charles  Bissell,  Horatio  Nelson, 
Simon  B.  Kendall,  Samuel  Reed,  Henry  P.  Kent,  Samuel  White, 
Julius  Harmon,  Hezekiah,  Luther,  Calvin,  Alfred  and  Thaddeus 
Spencer,  Deacons  Spellman  and  Russell,  James  Haskins,  Wil- 
liam arid  Cecil  Fuller,  George  Williston,  Gad  Sheldon,  Cornelius 
Austin,  John  Hemenway,  Warren  Cooper;  and  of  the  women, 
Elizabeth  Philleo,  Emily  Clark,  Lucy  Pease,  the  Misses  Gay, 
Mrs.  Neland  Loomis  and  the  Misses  Hemenway;  of  the  later 
ones,  the  historian  Hezekiah  Sheldon,  Martin  Sheldon,  Milton 
and  Safford  Hathaway,  Martin  Smith,  Collins  Allen,  Dr.  Street, 
Newton  Pomeroy,  Alfred  Owen,  Frank  Fuller,  Leverett  Austin, 
Leavitt  and  Charles  Bissell,  Edmund  Halladay,  William  Peck- 
ham,  Watson  Pease,  Clinton  Spencer,  Asa  Strong,  Webster 
Burbank,  Ed  Latham,  Rob  Loomis,  Charles  and  Francis 
Warner,  and  that  sweet  soul,  Dr.  Newton;  of  the  women, 
Mary  Burr,  Helen  and  Cordelia  Archer;  Carrie  Sheldon,  Mrs. 
Byron  Loomis,  Emily  Norton,  Emily  Gilbert,  Polly  Austin, 
Georgie  Wadsworth  and  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Schwartz,  Cornelia 
Pomeroy,  Maria  Bissell  Pomeroy,  Frances  Birge  Loomis,  Carrie 
Spencer,  Louis'e  Russell,  Emily  Spencer,  Helen  King,  Louise 
Hathaway,  Huldah  Chamberlain  and  Mary  Robinson. 

But  the  greatest  change  is  in  the  families.  The  names  on 
yonder  Honor  Roll  are  typical  of  the  residents  of  Suffield  now. 
New  names  are  added  to  the  old.  In  some  cases  the  old  names 
have  disappeared. 

The  countrymen  of  the  gallant  Kosciusko  have  found  homes 
in  Suifield.  They  dwell  upon  her  fertile  farms,  formerly  owned 
by  the  Spencers,  the  Bissells,  the  Warners,  the  Kings,  the 
Grangers,  the  Phelpses,  the  Remingtons,  the  Sykes,  and  the 
Loomises,  et  cetera. 

The  house  my  father  built,  and  where  we  lived  when  we  moved 
to  New  Haven,  is  now  the  house  of  the  Polish  priest  and  the 
barn  where  we  kept  the  stock  is  now  St.  Joseph's  Church. 
Napoleon,  in  his  campaigns,  was  accustomed  to  desecrate 
cathedrals.  At  Milan  his  cavalry  horses  were  stabled  (it  is  said, 


3O  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

however,  against  his  orders)  in  the  refectory  of  the  convent  on 
whose  walls  Leonardo  had  painted  "The  Last  Supper".  We 
often  now  hear  of  churches  being  secularized,  but  we  have 
rarely  known  of  a  barn  being  sanctified.  At  first  I  felt  sorry 
that  father's  place  had  not  remained  in  private  hands,  but  as 
I  see  the  uses  which  are  being  made  of  it  and  the  influence  for 
good  which  may  follow  among  the  large  number  of  men,  women 
and  children,  who  frequent  it,  I  am  pleased  and  satisfied  that 
it  may  serve  so  good  a  purpose. 

These  neighbors  of  ours  should  make  good  citizens.  They  are 
destined  to  play  their  part  in  our  history.  They  are  as  a  rule 
intelligent,  hard  workers,  and  when  they  become  citizens,  as 
they  all  no  doubt  hope  to  be,  and  as  their  children  surely  will 
be,  they  become  Americans  first,  last  and  always.  This  leads 
me  to  allude  to  Suffield's  part  in  the  World  War.  She  acquitted 
herself  with  glory  as  she  always  does. 

We  look  with  confidence  forward  to  the  next  fifty  years  and 
know  that  SufBeld  will  remain  steadfast  to  the  lofty  principles 
that  actuated  the  founders  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 

And  now  in  closing  may  I  paraphrase  a  song  my  father  used 
to  sing: 

Old  Suffield,  dear  Suffield,  our  home  on  the  lea, 

Our  hearts  as  we  wander  turn  fondly  to  thee, 

For  bright  rests  the  sun  on  thy  clear  winding  streams, 

And  so  soft  o'er  thy  meadows  the  moon  pours  her  beams. 

Old  Suffield,  dear  Suffield,  our  home  on  the  lea, 

The  wanderer's  heart  turns  in  fondness  to  thee. 

Thy  breezes  are  healthful  and  clear  are  thy  rills, 
The  harvest  waves  proudly  and  rich  on  thy  hills. 
Thy  maidens  are  fair  and  thy  yeomen  are  strong, 
And  thy  rivers  run  blithely  thy  valleys  among. 
Old  Suffield,  dear  Suffield,  our  home  on  the  lea, 
The  wanderer's  heart  turns  ever  fondly  to  thee. 

Ther're  homes  in  old  Suffield  where  loved  ones  of  thine, 

Are  thinking  of  days  of  the  dear  "Auld  Lang  Syne"; 

And  blest  be  the  hour  when  our  pilgrimage  o'er, 

We  shall  sit  by  those  hearthstones  and  leave  them  no  more. 

Old  Suffield,  Our  Suffield,  sweet  home  on  the  lea, 

Our  hearts  as  we  wander  turn  ever  to  thee. 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  3! 

The  quartette  consisting  of  Mrs.  Augusta  Burbank  Couch  of 
Suffield,  Miss  Ruth  Remington  of  Suffield,  Mr.  Thomas  E. 
Couch  of  Suffield,  and  Mr.  Robert  Winn  Jones  of  Hartford, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  C.  Luther  Spencer  at  the  organ,  sang 
"China,"  which  was  written  by  Timothy  Swan  of  Suffield 
about  1800. 

The  Historical  Address 

Mr.  Peckham  then  introduced  the  historian  of  the  day.  "As 
our  historian,"  he  said,  "we  have  secured  a  descendant  of  a 
native  of  Suffield  one  who  for  many  years  has  been  a  professor 
of  Yale  University;  a  son  of  the  late  S.  Dryden  Phelps,  who  was 
deeply  interested  along  educational  lines  and  also  wrote 
and  delivered  the  historical  poem  fifty  years  ago.  It  seems 
very  proper  that  our  program  should  include  the  name 
of  this  worthy  descendant  of  Suffield.  It  is  with  pleasure  I 
present  Professor  William  Lyon  Phelps  of  New  Haven,  who  will 
deliver  the  historical  address."  The  address  of  Professor  Phelps 
follows : 

It  is  a  pleasure  for  me  to  be  asked  to  come  here  and  appear 
on  the  platform  in  the  town  that  my  father  loved  more  than  any 
place  on  earth.  I  only  regret  that  when  I  was  a  boy  I  did  not 
come  up  here  and  have  him  show  me  about  and  visit  the  friends 
he  loved.  He  used  to  tell  me  great  stories  of  Captain  Phelps, 
who  was  the  heavy  weight  champion  of  the  town,  and  all  sorts 
of  splendid  tales  of  our  family. 

I  appreciate  more  than  I  can  express  the  honor  of  being  in- 
vited to  speak  at  the  exercises  commemorating  the  two  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  Suffield.  To  me  it 
was  an  especially  welcome  invitation,  not  merely  because  I  am 
a  Connecticut  man,  by  birth,  ancestry,  and  many  years  of 
active  service,  but  because  my  beloved  father  was  born  in  Suf- 
field, went  to  school  here,  and  read  a  poem  on  the  occasion  of  the 
two  hundredth  anniversary  in  1870.  He  was  then  almost  pre- 
cisely the  same  age  as  I  am  now,  the  only  difference  between  us 
being  the  marked  one  between  poetry  and  prose.  Both  my 
father  and  my  mother  were  born  in  Connecticut,  as  were  their 
forbears;  I  was  born  in  New  Haven,  and  went  to  school  not 
far  from  here,  in  Hartford.  I  am  a  lineal  descendant  of  William 


32  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

Phelps,  who  came  to  the  neighboring  town  of  Windsor  in  1636. 

I  mention  these  things  not  because  I  am  proud  of  them,  for 
no  one  can  be  rationally  proud  of  anything  with  which  he  had 
nothing  to  do;  but  because  I  am  glad  of  them;  they  give  me 
certain  privileges,  among-  which  is  the  right  to  represent  Suffield 
on  this  occasion. 

My  father,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sylvanus  Dryden  Phelps,  was  born 
at  Suffield,  May  15,  1816.  His  father,  Israel  Phelps,  was  a 
farmer  here,  who  died  when  his  son  was  ten  years  old.  There 
was  no  money;  my  father  worked  on  a  farm,  doing  a  man's 
work  when  he  was  a  boy.  Despite  the  hard  daily  toil,  he  loved 
it,  and  he  always  looked  back  to  farm  life  with  happy  memories. 
Everything  about  a  farm,  the  crops  and  the  stock,  were  always 
to  him  matters  of  vivid  interest;  and  when  Whittier's  Snow- 
Bound  was  published  in  1866,  my  father  read  it  with  reminiscent 
delight.  He  went  to  school  at  the  Connecticut  Literary  Institu- 
tion, and  so,  by  a  curious  chance,  did  my  wife's  father,  Langdon 
Hubbard.  When  the  time  came  to  go  to  college,  my  father  was 
too  poor  to  pay  the  expense  of  travelling;  he  therefore  walked 
from  Suffield  to  Brown  University,  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  and 
was  compelled  to  stay  out  of  college  one  year  later  in  the  course, 
in  order  to  get  sufficient  funds  to  continue. 

I  have  never  known  a  man  in  whom  the  principle  of  loyalty 
was  stronger  than  in  him.  He  loved  the  town  of  his  birth  with 
unspeakable  affection;  he  was  always  talking  to  me  about  it; 
he  returned  here  constantly  to  revisit  the  scenes  of  his  youth; 
and  I  do  not  believe  there  was  any  historical,  religious,  or  educa- 
tional anniversary  in  Suffield  where  he  failed  to  be  present  and 
to  take  part. 

We  are  all  most  interested  in  what  concerns  us  most  nearly; 
it  is  always  the  local  news  in  the  paper  we  read  first,  and  we 
read  with  most  avidity  the  account  of  something  we  saw  the 
day  before.  Perhaps  it  is  for  this  reason,  that  as  we  grow  older, 
we  more  often  look  back  to  the  distant  past  than  to  the  immedi- 
ate future;  for  the  past  is  familiar,  and  the  future  is  unknown. 
Certain  it  is  that  irreverence,  dislike  of  tradition,  and  even 
rebellion,  are  the  characteristics  of  extreme  youth;  as  we  grow 
older,  we  become  more  reverent,  more  sensible  of  the  unpurchas- 
able  value  of  tradition,  and  we  become  more  reconciled  to  life. 


CHAIRMEN  OF  PAGEANT  COMMITTEES 


Mrs.  George  A.  Peckham         Mrs.  Charles  C.  Bissell 


Cast  and  Rehearsal 

W.  S.  Fuller 

Stage,  Grounds,  Properties 


Music 

Charles  L.  Spencer 

Business  and  Finance 

Charles  R.  Latham 

Publicity 


Mrs.  George  A.  Harmon 

Costumes  and  Make-up 

George  B.  Woodruff 

Parking  and  Policing 


George  H.  Peckham  Hon.  Hugh  M.  Alcorn          Prof.  Jack  R.  Crawford 

Stephen  S.  Wise  L.L.D.       William  Lyon  Phelps,  Ph.D.       Seymour  C.  Loomis 

Henrv  B.  Russell 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  33 

For  boys  and  girls  labor  under  the  delusion  that  man  is  free, 
that  he  owes  no  tribute  either  to  Caesar  or  to  God,  and  that  he 
can  follow  the  path  indicated  by  his  own  sweet  will.  As  we 
grow  older,  we  discover  that  freedom — in  any  complete  sense — 
does  not  exist;  that  the  art  of  life  is  to  realize  its  limitations, 
before  setting  up  a  practical  philosophy;  we  may  then  find  out, 
that  if  we  cannot  live  in  absolute  independence,  we  can  live  the 
life  of  reason  with  some  contentment.  The  familiar  quarrel 
between  generations  will  always  go  on  in  the  future,  as  it  always 
has  in  the  past;  the  folly  of  impatience  in  youth  being  matched 
by  the  folly  of  misunderstanding  youth  in  old  age.  Perhaps, 
from  a  cynical  point  of  view,  this  quarrel  was  never  summed  up 
better  than  by  the  Elizabethan  poet  and  dramatist,  George 
Chapman.  "Young  men  think  old  men  are  fools;  but  old  men 
know  that  young  men  are  fools." 

Whether  we  like  it  or  not,  we  are  all  governed  by  the  past. 
The  books  written  by  men  long  dead  have  the  largest  influence 
in  shaping  our  minds  and  ruling  our  conduct;  the  laws  that 
control  our  duties  and  privileges  as  citizens  were  made  by  men 
whose  names  we  cannot  remember;  spirit  hands  guide  our  foot- 
steps through  life;  we  think  the  thoughts  of  our  ancestors,  and 
carry  into  execution  conceptions  formed  by  them.  The  muscles 
of  our  bodies,  and  the  swifter  impulses  of  our  minds  are  really 
set  in  motion  by  thousands  of  men  and  women.  We  have  been 
shaped  by  our  traditions.  We  can  add  something  ourselves  to 
these  traditions,  but  we  cannot  annihilate  them,  even  if  we 
would.  They  are  as  real  as  we  are. 

Many  Americans  have  such  a  constant  consciousness  of  in- 
dependence, that  they  cannot  bear  the  thought  of  having 
America's  destiny  in  any  way  influenced  by  hands  across  the 
sea.  "What!  do  you  mean  to  say  that  men  in  foreign  nations 
shall  tell  us  what  we  shall  and  shall  not  do?"  Now  the  truth  is, 
that  not  only  men  in  foreign  nations  have  a  vital  influence  on 
our  conduct  and  future  acts,  but  that  this  is  especially  true  of 
those  foreigners  who  have  been  dead  for  many  centuries.  The 
situation  is  even  more  humiliating  than  we  had  thought.  Bad 
enough  to  have  an  outside  absentee  ruler  who  is  alive — how 
much  more  insupportable  when  they  have  all  ceased  to  exist! 

Nothing  is  more  foolish  than  to  despise  the  past,  or  to  attempt 


34  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

to  rearrange  the  present  without  a  sound  knowledge  of  history. 
The  difficulty  with  most  exceedingly  radical  reformers  is  that 
they  are  deficient  in  historical  knowledge.  They  do  not  know 
that  the  experiment  they  have  in  mind  has  been  tried  so  many 
times  without  success  that  some  lesson  might  possibly  be  gained 
by  observation  of  previous  results.  "Histories  make  men  wise," 
said  Lord  Bacon;  and  they  make  us  wise,  not  merely  because 
history-books  were  written  by  wise  men,  but  because  history 
itself  is  the  accumulation  of  human  wisdom  gleaned  from  human 
folly.  To  despise  the  past  is  to  despise  wisdom.  For  despite 
the  glib  way  in  which  the  word  evolution  is  used,  despite  the 
immense  advances  made  in  personal  luxuries,  housing,  and 
locomotion,  despite  the  amazing  diffusion  of  culture,  by  which 
reading  and  writing  have  become  no  more  conspicuous  than 
breathing — there  is  not  one  scintilla  of  evidence  to  prove  that 
the  individual  mind  has  advanced  a  single  step,  in  the  power  of 
thought,  or  in  the  ability  to  reason,  or  in  the  possession  of  wis- 
dom. The  men  of  ancient  times — as  represented  by  their  lead- 
ers— were  in  every  respect  as  able-minded  as  the  best  product 
of  the  twentieth  century. 

That  "history  repeats  itself"  will  seem  once  more  clear  if  I 
read  a  short  extract  from  the  admirable  memorial  address  de- 
livered at  Suffield  on  the  occasion  of  the  two  hundredth  anni- 
versary, in  1870,  pronounced  by  John  Lewis,  Esq.  Do  not 
the  following  words  sound  appropriate  to  the  present  year? 

"The  historian  of  Suffield  labors  under  certain  intrinsic  disad- 
vantages. Especially  is  this  true  in  the  present  age,  when  we 
have  become  so  accustomed  to  grand  and  startling  events.  We 
have  witnessed  the  conflicts  of  mighty  armies  joined  in  battles 
more  terrific  than  the  world  has  ever  seen  before.  We  have 
witnessed  the  successful  completion  of  vast  industrial  enterprises, 
enterprises  that  revolutionize  commerce,  and  modify  the  thoughts 
of  Christendom.  We  have  mingled  in  the  discussion  of  social 
and  political  questions  of  the  most  vital  and  absorbing  interest. 
And  we  have  become  so  familiar  with  these  magnificent  displays 
of  power  and  with  these  intense  nervous  and  intellectual  excite- 
ments, that  we  are  in  danger  of  losing  our  interest  in  the  ordinary 
affairs  of  life.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  realize  at  the  outset 
that  the  history  of  Suffield  will  not  lead  us  through  a  succession 
of  these  grand  events;  that  its  history  is  not  that  of  a  great 
nation,  controlling  millions  of  men,  dealing  with  vast  resources 


QUARTER   MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  35 

and  setting  on  foot  mighty  armies,  but  simply  the  history  of  a 
town But  notwithstanding  this  lack  of  general  inter- 
est, the  subject  possesses  one  great  advantage  which  to  us  may 
well  compensate  for  all  others;  it  is  the  story  of  our  fathers  and 
the  history  of  our  native  place." 

Why  is  it  that  it  seems  natural,  not  only  to  us  but  to  others 
less  fortunate,  that  we  should  celebrate  in  this  formal  and  public 
manner  the  two  and  one-half  centuries  of  the  existence  of  Suf- 
field?  Why  is  it,  that  no  matter  what  may  be  its  present  condi- 
tion or  the  possibilities  of  its  future,  we  are  glad  of  its  past? 
Why  is  it  that  those  who  leave  the  little  town  and  go  into  huge 
Western  cities  so  often  look  back  with  a  heartache  to  these  quiet 
scenes?  By  the  rivers  of  Babylon  they  sit  down  and  weep,  when 
they  remember  Zion. 

It  is  because  we  know  the  imponderable  worth  of  traditions; 
and  we  know  they  come  only  from  years.  Even  if  every  man 
had  his  price,  which  is  not  true,  there  are  things  beyond  all 
price.  An  English  boy  who  goes  to  Cambridge  or  Oxford  has 
something  in  his  education  far  removed  from  the  price  he  pays 
for  his  tuition,  from  the  instruction  he  receives  in  lectures,  and 
from  the  advantages  of  modern  laboratories.  The  gray  walls 
of  the  cloisters,  the  noble  old  towers,  the  quiet  beauty  of  the 
quadrangles,  represent  not  only  the  best  in  architecture,  but 
they  are  hallowed  by  the  memories  of  thousands  of  ghosts  who 
once  were  young  men.  Lowell  once  used  the  phrase,  "God's 
passionless  reformers,  Influences."  These  influences  which  are 
silently  but  chronically  active,  give  something  that  no  recently- 
founded  institution  can  bring,  and  something  that  makes  the 
so-called  almighty  dollar  look  foolishly  impotent.  Any  well 
disposed  multi-millionaire  can  start  a  well-equipped  university; 
but  the  centuries  of  tradition  that  give  a  tone  and  a  stamp  to 
every  student  in  an  old  college  are  not  for  sale. 

A  certain  independent  humour  accompanies  those  who  live 
in  ancient  surroundings — and  this  humour  is  the  Anglo-Saxon 
way  of  expressing  pride.  After  dining  in  Hall  with  the  Dons 
one  evening  in  a  college  at  Oxford,  we  adjourned  after  dinner 
to  three  rooms  in  succession.  I  asked  one  of  my  hosts  if  that 
had  always  been  the  custom.  "No,  indeed,"  said  he,  with  a 
smile;  "in  fact,  it  is  comparatively  recent.  We  have  been 
coming  in  here  after  dinner  only  since  the  seventeenth  century." 


36  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

A  wealthy  American  was  so  pleased  with  the  velvet  turf  of  the 
quadrangles  that  he  asked  an  Oxford  janitor  how  such  turf  was 
produced;  it  appeared  that  he  wished  his  front  lawn  in  Chicago 
to  wear  a  similar  aspect.  The  janitor  said  it  was  a  simple  matter; 
all  you  have  to  do  is  to  wait  a  thousand  years.  Some  foreign 
visitors,  in  talking  with  Cambridge  undergraduates,  asked  them 
why  they  persisted  in  adhering  to  certain  customs  that  once 
were  perhaps  fitting,  but  in  modern  days  seemed  absurd;  the 
only  reason  returned  to  the  energetic  questioners  was,  "We  have 
always  done  these  things."  And  there  was  the  implication, 
unspoken,  but  easy  to  divine,  that  if  strangers  did  not  like  these 
customs,  they  had  the  privilege  of  going  somewhere  else. 

When  the  Englishman  Thomas  Hardy  sits  down  at  his  house 
in  Dorchester  to  write  a  poem  or  a  novel,  he  knows  that  the 
ground  in  his  garden  is  filled  with  the  relics  of  Roman  occupa- 
tion— glass,  pottery,  utensils,  and  human  bones.  Twenty 
centuries  are  in  his  front  yard.  No  wonder  that  there  is  dignity 
to  his  compositions  when  their  roots  go  so  deep. 

So  our  village  of  Suffield  may  be  an  insignificant  spot  on  the 
map.  We  cannot  compare  with  cities  of  recent  growth,  nor 
has  the  census  for  1920  any  particular  excitement  for  us.  We 
do  not  study  the  growth  of  our  population  year  by  year,  for 
our  estimate  is  not  quantitative.  If  certain  towns  boast  that 
they  have  advanced  in  the  census  fifty  per  cent,  in  ten  years, 
we  may  reply  that  we  took  a  census  two  hundred  years  ago. 
From  this  point  of  view,  Suffield  is  a  perpetual  rebuke  to  those 
who  would  judge  everything  by  size  and  number.  Why  should 
there  be  rejoicing  simply  because  there  are  more  people  in  a  city 
than  there  used  to  be?  Why  should  there  be  boasting  when 
the  claim  is  made  that  we  have  doubled  our  population  in  ten 
years?  What  of  it?  We  do  not  rejoice  on  a  trolley-car  when  the 
population  doubles  in  two  minutes. 

We  should  ask  other  questions  and  have  other  standards. 
How  about  quality?  Are  the  standards  higher  than  they  used 
to  be?  Are  our  inhabitants  better  educated,  more  civilized, 
growing  in  grace? 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  world  in  general  or  Suffield  in  par- 
ticular is  degenerating.  History  moves  in  spirals,  and  the 
world  has  recently  had  an  appalling  lapse.  But  I  do  not  believe 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  37 

in  general  that  we  are  going  back.  I  do  not  share  the  general 
mistrust  toward  the  younger  generation,  partly  because  I  re- 
member what  elders  used  to  say  of  youth  when  I  was  young. 
Now  those  times  once  so  loudly  denounced  are  held  up  as  an 
edifying  model  for  the  youth  of  today.  I  rejoice  that  we  have 
a  long  line  of  Suffield  ancestors  in  our  blood;  but  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  Suffield  then  or  America  then  was  better  than  it  is 
today;  and,  if  I  did  think  so,  don't  you  see  that  I  should  be 
false  to  my  faith  in  my  ancestors?  If  they,  with  all  their  virtues, 
were  such  poor  stock  that  their  descendants  are  all  going  to  the 
everlasting  bonfire,  how  could  I  regard  them  with  admiration 
and  reverence?  The  youth  of  today  are  better  because  the 
original  stock  was  good. 

There  is  a  dramatic  side  to  progress,  so  dramatic  that  it  is 
almost  amusing.  There  are  many  who  would  thoughtlessly 
say  that  America  is  now  pagan,  frivolous,  irresponsible  and 
irreligious,  in  contrast  with  the  "good  old  times"  when  our 
Puritan  ancestors  were  so  stern,  strict,  and  devout.  But  how 
amazed  one  of  those  old  Puritan  divines  would  be  if  he  should 
revisit  the  glimpses  of  the  moon  and  find  it  absolutely  impossible 
to  quench  his  thirst.  In  the  days  when  our  godly  ancestors 
drank  often  and  copiously  of  heady  vintages  and  distilled 
liquors,  when  the  parson  in  his  pulpit  fortified  himself  for  the 
second  hour  of  his  discourse  with  a  mug  of  flip,  what  would 
they  have  thought,  if  they  had  been  informed  that  their 
so-often-called  degenerate  descendants  could  not  get  a  drink  at 
any  price?  Possibly  we  are  the  real  Puritans. 

Consider  this  charming  resolution,  passed  at  a  society  meet- 
ing of  the  Church  here  in  1749,  when  they  were  considering 
ways  and  means  toward  building  a  new  meeting-house  for  the 
worship  of  God.  It  was  voted  that  "the  committee  should 
provide  Rhum,  Cyder,  and  Beer  for  Raising  the  new  meeting- 
house, at  their  discretion."  Such  a  program  today  would  raise 
something  besides  a  church. 

I  believe  in  old  times,  old  traditions,  old  customs,  old  memo- 
ries; but  I  do  not  believe,  in  comparison  with  the  present,  in  the 
good  old  times.  That  is  a  lusty  myth.  Some  one  dug  up  a 
fragment  in  the  sands  of  Egypt  that  had  lain  forgotten  for  three 
thousand  years.  On  it  was  an  inscription  that  it  took  a  scholar 


38  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

to  decipher.  When  finally  translated,  it  was  seen  to  say,  "Ah, 
we  are  degenerate  and  evil;  we  are  not  noble  and  strong,  as 
they  were  in  the  good  old  times." 

In  one  of  his  shorter  poems,  Tennyson  said, 

"That  man's  the  best  Cosmopolite 

Who  loves  his  native  country  best." 

I  suppose  he  meant  by  that  statement,  that  the  man  who 
loved  his  own  country  was  better  fitted  to  love  all  countries  and 
thus  become  a  true  citizen  of  the  world,  than  anyone  who,  while 
professing  to  be  swayed  only  by  international  sentiment,  should 
have  little  affection  for  any  country  in  particular.  We  are  all 
familiar  with  the  type  of  man  who;s  filled  with  enthusiasm  for 
humanity,  but  who  never  helps  any  individual;  love,  like 
charity,  should  begin  at  home.  It  is  a  singular  but  a  happy 
human  characteristic  that  we  all  love  with  unspeakable  affec- 
tion the  scenes  of  our  birth  and  childhood;  even  those  who  are 
brought  up  in  a  particularly  detestable  climate,  will,  when  far 
away  in  golden  sunshine,  become  homesick  for  the  fog,  the 
mists,  and  the  rain.  Many  who  have  left  their  home  in  early 
manhood,  will  return  to  it  in  old  age,  as  though  drawn  thither 
by  invisible  but  irresistible  bonds.  There  is  something  almost 
holy  in  this  devotion;  and  it  is  inspired  by  such  sentiments 
that  we  meet  today. 

It  is  pleasant  to  remember  that  our  two  hundred  and  fiftieth 
celebration  should  come  in  the  same  year  with  the  three  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims.  The  greater 
event  does  not  erase  the  less,  but  it  includes  it.  If  the  Pilgrims 
had  not  come  to  America,  no  one  can  say  what  the  history  of 
this  locality  might  have  been.  We  came  from  them,  and  they 
came  from  England.  I  suppose  there  never  has  been  a  moment 
in  the  last  three  hundred  years  when  it  was  more  necessary  and 
desirable  to  dwell  on  the  relations  between  ourselves  and  the 
parent  stock  than  now.  Although  the  World  War  made  us 
ally  ourselves  with  England  in  an  endeavour  to  free  the  world 
from  threatened  despotism,  no  sooner  was  that  definite  peril 
passed  than  new  dangers  appeared.  The  natural  jealousy  be- 
tween allies,  the  old  sentimental  antagonism  to  Great  Britain, 
the  exigencies  of  party  politics,  all  worked  together  for  evil. 

It  is  my  belief,  that  whenever  we  celebrate  the  anniversaries 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  39 

of  New  England  towns,  we  should  look  back  with  affection  to 
the  mother  country  from  which  we  sprang.  At  all  events,  noth- 
ing is  more  necessary  today  than  open,  frank,  hearty  friendship 
and  good  will  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States. 
In  fact,  all  the  English-speaking  people  in  the  world  should 
regard  themselves  as  members  of  one  family;  for  if  these  people 
can  stand  together,  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men  are 
assured;  if  we  allow  anything  whatever  to  sow  among  us  the 
seeds  of  discord,  strife,  and  bitterness,  then  war  will  become 
not  an  acute,  but  a  chronic  disease.  Little  did  the  settlers  of 
Suffield  in  1670  think  that  the  language  they  spoke  with  each 
other  was  to  be  the  world-language  in  the  twentieth  century; 
for  while  it  is  not  only  impossible,  but  undesirable  that  sepa- 
rate nations  should  give  up  their  native  tongues,  we  have  lived 
to  see  the  day,  my  friends,  when  the  English  language  is  the 
commonest  means  of  communication  among  the  children  of 
men.  In  fact,  with  the  one  exception  of  music,  English  is  now 
the  universal  language. 

In  the  summer  of  the  year  1633,  a  number  of  the  people  in 
Massachusetts,  finding  the  local  government  too  autocratic, 
began  to  look  about  for  some  remoter  place  that  would  be  safe 
for  democracy;  a  small  company  forced  their  way  through  the 
forests  and  over  the  hills  to  the  Connecticut  River,  and  came 
back,  bringing  enthusiastic  stories  of  a  pleasant  and  well- 
watered  valley.  Two  years  later  a  larger  number  came,  and 
reached  the  fort  at  Windsor,  a  few  going  on  to  Wethersfield. 
Winter  provisions  and  clothing  were  sent  after  them  by  ships 
through  Long  Island  Sound,  but  when  the  boats  passed  Say- 
brook  they  found  the  icy  river  impossible,  and  they  returned 
to  Boston.  The  lonely  people  at  Windsor  and  Wethersfield  had 
a  horrible  winter.  All  the  cattle  died,  and  the  men,  women  and 
children  had  to  live  on  what  nuts  they  could  find.  About 
seventy  of  them  walked  all  the  way  on  the  frozen  river  to  Say- 
brook,  found  a  little  boat  imprisoned  in  ice,  cut  her  out,  and 
managed  to  navigate  her  to  Boston.  A  few  remained,  however, 
and  held  the  fort  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  Next  June,  in 
1636,  Thomas  Hooker,  pastor  of  the  church  in  Newtown,  led  his 
congregation  from  Massachusetts  through  the  woods  and 
founded  the  town  of  Hartford.  By  the  next  year  fully  800 


4-O  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

people  were  living  in  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Hartford. 
Before  Suffield  was  born,  seventeen  towns  were  in  existence  on 
the  banks  of  the  Connecticut  River,  at  various  intervals  be- 
tween Saybrook  and  northern  Massachusetts.  Two  of  their 
connecting  paths  ran  through  what  is  now  Suffield,  then  called 
Stony  Brook.  At  Stony  Brook  there  was  a  slender  meadow, 
surrounded  by  trackless  forests.  Mr.  Pynchon  of  Springfield, 
bought  from  the  Indians  the  ground  on  which  we  are  now  stand- 
ing and  over  twenty  thousand  acres  besides,  for  a  sum  that 
amounted  to  less  than  a  cent  per  acre. 

The  attractiveness  of  the  situation  here,  the  excellence  of  the 
soil,  and  other  advantages,  were  perceived  by  the  people  in 
Springfield,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1670  they  brought  a  petition 
to  the  General  Court  at  Boston,  asking  that  they  might  settle 
at  "a  place  called  by  ye  name  of  Stony  River."  This  petition 
was  granted  on  the  twelfth  day  of  October,  1670;  they  were  to 
have  a  township  six  miles  square,  provided  twenty  families 
should  be  living  there  within  five  years,  and  should  then  pay 
for  the  support  of  a  pastor.  In  the  individual  grants  of  land, 
made  in  January,  1671,  it  was  stipulated  that  in  every  ten  acres 
there  should  be  one  acre  of  meadow.  The  documents  that  we 
are  most  eager  to  read  are  unfortunately  lost.  We  know  when 
the  general  petition  was  granted,  we  know  the  arrangements 
made  the  next  year,  but  we  cannot  ascertain  with  certitude 
when  the  first  settlement  here  was  actually  made.  But  the 
"first  family"  of  Suffield,  speaking  chronologically,  was  named 
Harmon;  Samuel,  Joseph  and  Nathaniel. 

Within  two  or  three  years  there  were  thirty-six  inhabitants 
by  the  census;  there  were  two  mills,  and  it  is  significant  that 
one  lot  was  set  apart  for  the  minister,  and  another  for  the  school. 
They  knew  they  could  not  get  along  without  Christianity  and 
without  education;  if  everybody  in  the  world  knew  that  simple 
fact  now,  the  millennium  would  materialize.  In  1674,  Stony 
Brook  changed  its  name  to  Southfield,  which  being  pronounced 
as  we  pronounce  the  first  syllable  in  Southerly,  quickly  became 
by  euphony  Suffield.  In  March,  1682,  the  Town  of  Suffield  was 
first  legally  organized.  There  were  then  between  four  and  five 
hundred  people  here.  Thirty-four  only  were  allowed  to  vote, 
there  being  many  restrictions  by  both  Church  and  State,  the 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  4! 

town  being  obliged  to  follow  the  laws  of  Massachusetts,  to 
which  colony  it  then  belonged.  The  chief  street  was  High  Street, 
where  lived  the  Kings,  Hanchets,  Remingtons,  Grangers,  Kents, 
Nortons,  Spencers,  Sikes.  On  Feather  Street  were  the  Bur- 
banks,  Hollydays,  Smiths,  Trumbulls,  Palmers.  On  South 
Street  the  Austins,  Risings,  Millers.  On  the  western  road  the 
Harmons  and  Copleys,  in  Crooked  Lane  the  Taylors,  Hitch- 
cocks  and  Coopers. 

Allow  me  at  this  point  to  quote  again  from  my  predecessor, 
Mr.  John  Lewis,  who  made  the  address  in  1870. 

"Would  that  we  might  lift  the  veil  of  two  centuries  and  catch 
a  glimpse  of  the  pioneer  settlement  as  it  was  in  1682.  There 
were  the  primitive  highways,  whose  location  I  have  already 
indicated.  But  let  not  the  word  highways  suggest  smooth 
turnpikes  bordered  by  a  few  rods  of  grassy  meadow,  and  en- 
closed by  substantial  fences.  Think  rather  of  rude  pathways 
winding  among  the  stumps  and  trees,  which  still  occupied  the 
land  set  apart  for  public  travel.  Along  these  pathways  were 
scattered  the  dwellings  of  the  settlers.  These  were  cabins  of 
the  rudest  architecture,  containing  for  the  most  part  but  a 
single  room,  lighted  by  one  or  two  small  windows,  warmed  by 
the  huge  fireplace,  and  furnished  with  rude  stools,  and  tables 
and  shelves,  and  compelled  to  answer  all  the  various  needs  of 
the  family.  Ricks  of  meadow  grass  and  stocks  of  corn  were 
carefully  reared  adjacent  to  the  still  ruder  shelters  provided  for 
the  cattle.  Around  these  comfortless  abodes  lay  a  few  acres 
of  half-cleared  land,  with  the  charred  stumps  yet  standing  and 
the  green  copse  about  their  roots.  And  beyond  this  little  clear- 
ing, and  surrounding  it  on  every  side,  lay  the  dark,  threatening 
forest,  rearing  aloft  its  mighty  trunks  in  defiant  grandeur." 

Besides  the  quarrels  that  arose  from  time  to  time  as  to  the 
boundaries  between  Suffield  and  neighbouring  towns,  for  it  was 
difficult  to  fix  these  with  accuracy,  the  result  being  that  indi- 
viduals decided  them  with  the  sole  view  of  their  own  personal 
convenience  and  profit,  the  great  and  growing  dispute  was  as 
to  which  colony  Suffield  belonged — Massachusetts  or  Connecti- 
cut. Let  no  one  think  that  these  were  petty  or  unimportant 
matters  in  the  eyes  of  the  colonists.  Many  years  ago  actual  war 
was  declared  between  the  towns  of  Stamford  and  Norwalk,  and 
the  young  men  of  both  towns  eagerly  rushed  to  arms.  This 
seems  perhaps  laughable  now;  I  hope  it  does;  I  hope  wars 
between  nations  will  seem  equally  ridiculous  three  thousand 


42  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

years  hence.  But  then  there  was  considerable  feeling,  and  per- 
haps it  is  not  without  some  reason  that  a  man  should  be  inter- 
ested in  knowing  where  he  lived. 

Of  course  Suffield  came  from  Massachusetts,  and  Hartford 
did  as  well.  In  the  year  1713,  however,  a  survey  was  made,  and 
it  appeared  that  Suffield,  Enfield,  Woodstock,  and  Somers,  were 
really  in  Connecticut.  Now  the  governments  of  the  two  colonies 
settled  this  matter  in  defiance  of  Woodrow  Wilson's  twentieth 
century  principle,  that  the  local  inhabitants  should  decide  to 
which  country  they  should  belong.  Without  consulting  the 
wishes  of  the  people  of  Suffield  or  of  the  other  towns,  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut  decided  over  their  heads  that  Suffield 
was  in  Massachusetts,  and  thought  to  let  the  matter  rest;  as 
a  quid  pro  quo,  some  land  in  Western  Massachusetts  was  handed 
over  to  Connecticut;  later  it  was  sold,  and  the  money  given  to 
Yale  College,  an  excellent  idea.  But  the  people  in  Suffield  were 
naturally  not  content  with  this  arbitrary  and  overhead  bargain; 
they  continually  protested;  finally  they  presented  in  due  form 
through  appointed  representatives  a  petition  to  the  Connecticut 
General  Assembly.  It  was  not  until  the  year  1749  that  the 
Assembly  finally  decided  that  Suffield  and  the  other  petitioning 
towns  belonged  to  Connecticut.  When  Massachusetts  learned 
of  this  rather  naive  decision,  she  gave  notice  of  an  appeal  to 
England,  which,  however,  was  not  carried  out,  and  since  1749 
Suffield  has  been  in  Connecticut;  and  the  smoke  of  her  Con- 
necticut tobacco  rises  like  a  burnt  offering  in  all  parts  of  the 
world. 

When  I  was  a  little  boy  studying  geography — and  in  my 
childhood  we  really  had  to  study  spelling,  arithmetic,  and 
geography — I  used  to  wonder  how  that  curious  notch  came  in 
the  smooth  northern  line  of  my  native  state.  It  was  always  a 
pleasant  duty,  however,  for  it  seemed  a  break  in  the  monotony 
of  drawing  boundaries,  to  set  in  that  northern  notch,  as  well  as 
that  strange  open  fish-mouth  in  the  Southwest. 

In  the  struggle  between  Great  Britain  and  France  for  the 
control  of  America — a  struggle  of  enormous  importance  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  and  called  over  here  the  French  and  Indian 
War,  as  though  a  series  of  trivial  skirmishes — Suffield  did  her 
part.  Naturally  the  colonials  had  to  do  most  of  the  fighting 


QUARTER   MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  43 

and  the  suffering.  The  first  man  from  Suffield  to  win  national 
prominence  came  out  of  the  struggle.  This  was  General 
Phinehas  Lyman,  who  commanded  the  troops  contributed  by 
our  town.  He  also  represented  Suffield  in  both  the  assemblies 
of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts,  and  after  the  peace  of  1763, 
he  was  given  a  grant  of  land  near  the  Mississippi  by  the  British 
government. 

The  next  great  event  in  our  history  was  of  course  the  war  of 
the  Revolution,  in  which  it  appears  that  Suffield  was  actuated 
by  precisely  the  same  sentiment  of  patriotism,  independence, 
and  hatred  of  England's  arbitrary  rule,  that  was  common  else- 
where in  America.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  in  a  time  when 
there  was  no  telegraph,  no  railways,  no  fast  post,  no  Associated 
Press,  that  the  spirit  of  independence  and  willingness  to  fight 
for  it  spread  with  such  rapidity  that  all  thirteen  colonies  were 
thinking  the  same  thoughts  at  the  same  time.  Such  a  spirit 
does  not  need  mechanical  means  of  transportation;  it  flies 
through  the  air.  The  same  story  of  this  war  and  the  prepara- 
tions that  led  up  to  it  are  like  others;  public  sentiment  was  all- 
powerful,  and  woe  to  non-conformists.  General  Grant  once 
said,  "God  help  the  man  who  does  not  share  in  public  sentiment 
in  war  time!"  He  may  be  called  Tory,  Copperhead,  Pro- 
German,  or  what  not;  but  by  any  other  name  his  odour  is  the 
same.  In  the  year  1770  the  colonists  formed  a  league  agreeing 
not  to  import  from  England,  and  the  language  toward  dissenters 
has  a  familiar  ring:  "Let  the  goods  of  such  single  souled 
wretches  that  regard  nothing  but  their  own  interest,  that 
Cultivate  and  Endeavour  to  promote  the  Same  in  a  way  evi- 
dently Ruinous  to  their  own  Country,  lie  upon  their  own  hands. 
Let  their  Crime  be  their  punishment,  and  Should  the  Deplorable 
Event  of  the  Loss  of  American  Liberty  take  place,  may  them- 
selves be  accounted  as  Ignominous,  Disgraceful,  and  Selfish 
mortals,  and  unfit  for  Society  by  Every  brave,  Noble  Patriot 
and  virtuous  American,  and  may  their  Names  Descend  to  the 
Remotest  Posterity  with  all  that  ignominy  and  Disrespect  they 
so  justly  merit  and  Deserve." 

A  subsequent  resolution  passed  by  our  fathers  in  Suffield 
has,  I  think,  a  peculiarly  inspiring  and  affecting  appeal  to  us. 
The  above  statement  was  recorded  in  the  Town  Book,  for  the 


44  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

express  benefit  of  posterity,  "wherein  they  may  See  and  behold 
how  Careful  the  present  Age  have  bin  to  transmit  to  them  the 
inestimable  Privileges  of  Liberty  and  Freedom,  and  Excite  them 
to  the  Like  Conduct  on  Similar  Occasions."  Well,  I  think  the 
Fathers  looking  down  on  Suffield  in  the  twentieth  century, 
would  have  no  cause  for  shame. 

In  the  spring  of  1775  we  find  this  brief  statement  on  a  pay 
list  in  a  Hartford  library:  "Marched  from  SufBeld  for  relief  of 
Boston  in  the  Lexington  Alarm,  April,  1775,  Captain  Elihu  Kent 
and  one  hundred  and  fourteen  men." 

Company  after  company  was  formed  here  between  1775  and 
1781,  and  constant  town  meetings  were  called  to  increase  taxa- 
tion in  order  that  money  and  supplies  might  steadily  be  given. 
The  history  of  Suffield  in  those  momentous  years  is  the  history 
of  other  American  towns. 

It  is  interesting  to  remember  that  two  schools  of  law  have 
flourished  in  Suffield,  one  headed  by  General  Lyman,  and  the 
other  by  Gideon  Granger.  In  the  beginning  of  the  last  century, 
Suffield  had  five  lawyers,  which  would  seem  to  indicate  a  certain 
amount  of  prosperity,  or,  at  all  events,  activity. 

There  is  no  better  test  of  the  general  enlightenment  of  a  com- 
munity than  its  willingness  to  make  sacrifices  for  education. 
The  history  of  Suffield  in  this  respect  is  one  of  which  we  may  all 
be  reasonably  glad.  We  have  already  observed  that  at  the 
founding  of  the  town  a  plot  of  ground  was  set  apart  for  educa- 
tional purposes.  The  memorandum  makes  pleasant  reading 
today.  The  land  was  "for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  a 
School,  to  continue  and  be  Improved  for  and  to  that  use  forever, 
without  any  alienation  therefrom."  This  fine  determination 
first  bore  fruit  in  1696,  when  Anthony  Austin  became  teacher  at 
twenty  pounds  a  year — teachers  have  always  been  overpaid!  In 
1703  was  built  the  first  building  for  educational  purposes.  The 
curriculum  was  absolutely  sound:  reading,  writing,  arithmetic, 
taught  with  the  aid  of  a  hickory  stick.  Just  as  now  doctors  tell 
us  that  pains  in  the  feet  are  often  caused  by  defects  in  the  teeth, 
so  our  ancestors  knew  that  the  quickest  way  to  impress  a  fact 
on  a  boy's  brain  was  to  make  an  impression  on  a  remoter  por- 
tion of  his  frame.  Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  the  Con- 
necticut Literary  Institution  was  founded  in  Suffield.  This  fine 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  45 

school  has  prepared  many  boys  for  college,  it  has  maintained  a 
high  standard  of  education  and  character,  and  in  the  spiritual 
history  of  the  town  it  deserves  the  first  place. 

About  one  hundred  years  ago  the  Connecticut  Baptist  Educa- 
tion Society  began  to  collect  money  to  establish  a  literary  insti- 
tution in  Sufneld.  The  object  was  to  educate  young  men  for  the 
ministry.  In  1833,  after  competing  offers  from  other  towns, 
Sufneld  was  finally  selected.  The  institution  was  formally 
opened  August  31,  1833.  The  school  house  then  stood  near  the 
Congregational  Church;  113  scholars  were  enrolled  the  first 
year,  and  sixty-one  of  these  came  from  Sufneld. 

The  first  head  master,  Reuben  Granger,  was  so  over  critical, 
and  so  fond  of  the  big  stick,  that  the  boys  became  Bolsheviks, 
organized  a  Soviet  and  drove  him  off  the  platform  with  various 
missiles.  The  first  regular  building  was  a  four  story  edifice 
erected  in  1834.  The  big  bell  is  still  available,  but  in  1899  the 
building  was  taken  down  in  order  to  make  room  for  the  Kent 
Library.  After  the  year  1843  girls  were  admitted  to  the  school. 

A  new  building  was  dedicated  August  2,  1854,  and  was  reno- 
vated in  1908.  In  1898  a  high  school  was  formed  and  an  ar- 
rangement was  made  between  the  town  and  the  Connecticut 
Literary  Institution  by  which,  at  a  low  fee,  high  school  privileges 
were  furnished  to  Suffield  inhabitants. 

Mr.  Albert  Kent,  who  was  a  pupil  at  the  Connecticut  Literary 
Institution,  is,  together  with  Mrs.  Kent  now  honored  by  the 
Kent  Memorial  Library,  erected  to  their  memory  by  Mr.  Sidney 
Albert  Kent  in  the  year  1899.  Besides  building  the  structure, 
Mr.  Kent  gave  nearly  seven  thousand  volumes,  and  now  there 
are  about  twenty  thousand  books  in  the  building. 

The  conservative  side  of  Suffield  has  its  defects  as  well  as  its 
virtues.  There  was  a  time  when  the  new  railway  from  Hartford 
to  Springfield  was  actually  surveyed  to  run  through  Suffield; 
with  a  spirit  of  short-sighted  obstinacy,  the  townsmen  fought 
the  project,  and  the  railroad  was  driven  across  the  river.  In- 
stead of  finding  themselves  in  splendid  isolation  as  a  result  of 
this  manoeuvre,  they  and  their  descendants  found  themselves 
marooned.  The  only  reason  for  recalling  such  an  irreparable 
error  of  judgment  is  that  in  future  years  Suffield  may  not  let 
slip  other  opportunities  for  advancement. 


46  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

As  I  believe  that  Suffield,  in  common  with  other  Connecticut 
communities,  has  progressed  over  earlier  times  not  only  in 
wealth  and  comfort,  education  and  refinement,  but  also  in 
morals,  so  I  believe — quite  contrary  I  admit  to  the  general  as- 
sumption— that  physically  our  young  men  are  definitely  superior 
to  the  pioneers.  It  is  a  common  mistake  to  suppose,  as  so-called 
civilization  advances,  that  morals  and  physique  decline.  Mor- 
ally, there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  average  of  business 
relations  and  political  manipulations  is  higher  than  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  Physically,  the  same  is  true.  The  all  but 
universal  athletic  training  of  both  boys  and  girls,  the  love  of 
games  and  recreations  now  daily  indulged  in  by  men  and  women 
who  formerly  would  have  been  retired  to  the  scrap-heap  of  old 
age,  the  immensely  better  knowledge  of  such  hygienic  matters 
as  food  and  fresh  air,  have  all  contributed  to  produce  a  higher 
grade  of  physical  manhood  and  womanhood  than  the  world  has 
hitherto  known. 

It  is  the  common  unthinking  assumption  that  the  pioneers 
were  hardy  men  and  women  of  superb  physique;  but  the  recent 
world  war  proved  that  the  young  men  who  went  into  the  trenches 
and  the  young  women  who  went  over  as  nurses  and  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
helpers  endured  horrors  that  no  Spartan  or  Roman  or  Colonial 
or  Pioneer  could  have  supported.  And  as  the  physical  constitu- 
tion of  our  young  men  and  women  in  the  twentieth  century  is 
undoubtedly  superior  to  any  previous  generations,  so  the  cheer- 
ful willingness  displayed  by  modern  youth  to  give  up  not  only 
luxuries  but  life,  would  seem  to  indicate  that  so  far  as  the  im- 
mediate future  of  America  is  concerned,  there  is  no  ground  for 
pessimism. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Professor  Phelps'  address  the  audience 
rose  and  sang  "America,"  and  Rev.  Jesse  F.  Smith  pronounced 
the  benediction. 

Then  the  great  audience  following  the  custom  of  all  New 
England  communities,  gathered  for  nearly  an  hour  outside  the 
church  on  the  steps  and  sidewalk.  Here  was  an  opportunity 
for  old  friends  to  meet,  and  they  availed  themselves  of  the  op- 
portunity to  the  fullest  extent. 

Hundreds  crowded  the  rooms  of  the  Masonic  Temple  which 
had  been  converted  into  a  hostess  house  for  the  exhibition  of 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  47 

colonial  relics,  antique  furniture,  examples  of  old  needle  work 
and  fancy  work  and  a  multitude  of  old  and  valued  articles. 
The  Town  Hall  likewise  attracted  many  to  see  the  Miller  col- 
lection of  Indian  relics  and  relics  of  the  World  War,  and  to 
register  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Reception  Committee  in 
Union  Hall. 

The  Collation 

At  2  o'clock  about  400  people  gathered  for  the  collation 
in  the  Suffield  School  Gymnasium  which  was  admirably 
adapted  to  the  purpose  and  brilliantly  decorated  with  red, 
white  and  blue  streamers  from  the  center  of  the  ceiling  to  and 
along  the  walls.  Eight  long  tables  extended  the  length  of  the 
room  to  the  speakers'  table,  set  at  right  angles  along  the  north 
wall.  All  the  tables  were  handsomely  decorated  with  flowers, 
and  on  the  speakers'  table  were  three  mammoth  anniversary 
cakes.  The  one  in  the  center,  made  in  the  pattern  of  the 
American  flag,  bore  the  legend  "25<Dth  Anniversary;"  those  at 
the  ends  the  dates  1670  and  1920  respectively. 

At  the  close  of  the  collation  Mr.  Edward  A.  Fuller,  president 
of  the  General  Executive  Committee  of  the  celebration,  an- 
nounced that  under  the  leadership  of  Hobart  G.  Truesdell, 
head  master  of  the  Suffield  School,  the  people  would  join  in 
singing  some  of  the  familiar  songs.  Under  his  leadership,  and 
with  the  accompaniment  of  the  orchestra,  "There's  a  Long, 
Long  Trail,"  "Keep  the  Home  Fires  Burning,"  "Swanee  River," 
and  "School  Days"  were  sung  with  spirit. 

Before  introducing  the  toastmaster  of  the  occasion,  Mr. 
Fuller  expressed  the  general  appreciation  of  the  exercises  of  the 
morning  and  regret  at  the  absence  of  "Hugh  Alcorn."  "I 
speak  of  him  in  this  way,"  he  said,  "rather  than  say  The  Hon. 
Hugh  M.  Alcorn,  because  I  have  been  very  much  interested  in 
Hugh.  In  common  with  a  great  many  others,  Hugh  is  a  product 
of  Suffield.  The  educational  facilities  of  Suffield  provided  the 
education  upon  which  he  has  built  in  the  work  he  has  taken 
up.  I  am  interested  in  Hugh  because,  in  the  dark  days  of  1862 
and  1863,  his  father  and  myself,  and  one  or  two  hundred  other 
Suffield  boys,  were  in  that  line  of  defense,  a  picket  line  that 


48  QUATERR    MILLENNIAL   OF    SUFFIELD 

passed  along  by  Falls  Church.  In  those  dark  days — and  they 
were  dark  days  when  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  was  being  fought 
— when  Hugh's  father  was  defending  his  country,  Hugh's 
mother  stuck  by  the  stuff — the  job  at  home — and  she  saw  that 
those  children  had  an  education  fitting  them  for  the  professions 
they  are  in  today.  We  are  all  interested  in  Hugh  and  regret  his 
absence." 

Mr.  Fuller  then  introduced  as  toastmaster,  Prof.  William 
Lyon  Phelps,  who  spoke  pleasantly  of  his  renewed  acquaintance 
with  the  home  town  of  his  ancestors.  In  introducing  Father 
Hennessey  of  the  Sacred  Heart  Church,  as  the  first  speaker  he 
said: 

"I  ran  away  from  my  classes  at  Yale  today — of  course  they 
feel  dreadfully  about  it;  they  can  not  bear  to  have  their  teacher 
leave  them,  even  for  a  moment,  but  I  hope  they  will  recover 
sufficiently  to  be  with  me  tomorrow  morning.  I  ran  away  so 
that  I  might  come  up  here  and  be  with  you.  When  Father 
Hennessey  was  in  college,  I  gave  him  an  examination;  I  told  the 
class  beforehand  there  would  be  a  whole  lot  of  questions  and 
they  better  study  up.  But  when  Father  Hennessey  took  the 
examination,  he  wrote  at  the  top,  'I  plugged  all  this  stuff  up, 
but  now  I  can't  get  the  plug  out.'  There  was  a  man  who 
thought  he  would  jump  across  Niagara,  but,  in  order  to  jump 
it,  he  must  get  a  good  start.  So  he  went  back  two  miles  and 
got  so  tired  running  the  two  miles  that  he  couldn't  jump.  It 
is  a  great  pleasure  to  have  Father  Hennessey,  that  good  old 
Baptist,  here.  It  isn't  necessary  for  him  to  deliver  an  invoca- 
tion; where  Father  Hennessey  is,  there  is  a  blessing." 

After  speaking  in  appreciation  of  the  occasion  Father  Hennes- 
sey said: 

"We  can't  leave  the  exercises  of  this  day  without  turning  the 
invocation  into  a  thanksgiving,  and  call  upon  the  Lord  God  of 
Hosts,  the  source  of  power,  of  truth,  of  goodness,  of  mercy  and 
love,  gratefully  showing  our  feeling  for  this  repast,  begging  him 
to  teach  us  so  we  will  know  we  are  taught  by  our  sires  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago;  those  teachings  which  have  made 
this  good  old  community  of  Suffield,  the  grand  old  State  of 
Connecticut  and  the  more  wonderful  United  States  of  America. 
Let  us  ever  be  mindful  that  what  God  has  joined  together,  no 


UFFIELD 

PAGEANT 


OCT.  13, 2PM 


SECOND  DA3T  OF  CELEBRATION 


"Selling  the  Land." 


SUFFIELD,  CONNECTICUT 

WILL  OBSERVE  THE 

250  ^ANNIVERSARY 

OF  ITS  FOUNDING 
OCT.  12. 13  AND  14.1920 

Much  Reduced  Reproduction  of  Pageant  Poster 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  49 

man  shall  put  asunder;  for  increased  and  multiplied  are  His 
teachings,  the  teachings  of  a  God  of  Justice  and  Truth." 

"There  are  times  of  trial  and  days  of  darkness  when  the  best 
of  us  are  apt  to  show  our  distrust  in  the  providence  of  God, 
when  we  are  sorely  tempted  to  lose  hope  and  heart  in  the  things 
that  are  but,  if  we,  like  our  sires,  are  seeking  first  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven,  we  shall  understand  that  it  is  God  who  gives  and 
God  who  takes  away,  that  God  gives  and  takes  away  for  our 
soul's  safety.  Therefore,  let  us  this  day  show  our  trust  in  the 
Almighty  Providence  of  God,  and  never  suffer  the  weight  of 
the  body,  nor  the  things  of  sense,  nor  the  trials  of  life  to  fill 
our  souls  with  bitterness.  It  is  a  blessing  then  that  I  wish  you 
all;  you  who  have  come  to  join  with  dear  old  Suffield  to  make 
this  occasion  memorable." 

Hon.  R.  U.  Tyler,  of  Haddam,  the  Democratic  candidate  for 
Governor  in  the  election  soon  to  occur,  was  next  called  upon 
and  spoke  of  his  pleasure  in  joining  in  Suffield  some  of  his  pro- 
fessional and  college  friends.  "We  people  down  in  Haddam,"  he 
said,  "are  a  little  older  than  you.  We  celebrated  the  two  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  the  organization  of  our  first  church  some 
twenty  years  ago.  Eight  years  ago,  we  reached  the  two  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  the  town,  and  two 
years  ago  was  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
incorporation  of  the  town.  I  speak  of  our  own  experience  be- 
cause I  can  appreciate  to  some  extent  the  great  amount  of 
work  that  people  here  in  Suffield  have  had  to  do  in  order  to 
stage  this  magnificent  celebration.  It  means  hard  work  and  a 
great  deal  of  planning,  and  a  great  deal  of  thought  and  effort, 
for  which  I  trust  you  will  feel  fully  repaid.  It  is  a  good  thing 
to  celebrate  the  history  of  our  New  England  towns.  I  never 
attend  one  of  these  celebrations  without  being  reminded  of  that 
reference  to  New  England  which  we  used  to  see  in  our  school- 
books,  an  extract,  as  I  recall,  from  an  oration  by  S.  S.  Prentiss: 

"  'Glorious  New  England!  thou  art  still  true  to  thine  ancient 
fame  and  worthy  of  thine  ancestral  honors!  A  thousand  fond 
associations  throng  upon  us,  roused  by  the  spirit  of  the  hour! 
On  thy  pleasant  valleys  rest,  like  sweet  dews  of  morning,  the 
gentle  recollections  of  our  early  life;  around  thy  hills  and 
mountains  cling,  like  gathering  mists,  the  mighty  memories  of 


5O  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

the  Revolution;  and  far  away  in  the  horizon  of  thy  past  gleam, 
like  thine  own  bright  northern  lights,  the  awful  virtues  of  our 
Pilgrim  sires?'  ' 

The  next  speaker,  Mr.  Henry  B.  Russell,  of  the  Springfield 
Union,  spoke  of  Suffield  as  his  home  town,  but  said  that  a  man 
whose  ancestors  did  not  cut  down  the  first  trees  nor  the  first 
Indians  in  Suffield  felt  almost  like  a  man  without  a  country  in 
such  a  celebration  as  this.  He  had  found,  however,  that  he 
could  bring  his  ancestors  much  nearer  Suffield  than  he  had 
supposed,  because,  when  they  migrated  from  New  Haven 
northward,  though  they  did  not  stop  at  Suffield,  they  stopped 
at  the  "Suffield  Equivalent"  which  was  the  ragged  edge  of  the 
present  town  of  Blandford.  He  also  spoke  of  the  loyalty  of 
Suffield  people  who  live  here  or  had  lived  here  but  had  gone 
elsewhere,  whether  their  ancestral  roots  ran  deep  into  its  early 
history  or  not. 

Major  William  Alcorn,  of  New  Haven,  brother  of  State 
Attorney  Hugh  M.  Alcorn,  spoke  of  his  boyhood  days  in  Suf- 
field; of  the  service  of  his  father  for  four  years  and  three  months 
in  the  Civil  War,  his  own  service  of  one  year  on  the  Mexican 
border  and  two  in  France,  and  the  service  of  his  son  and  nephew 
in  the  navy.  "Whenever  our  country  called,"  he  said,  "  Suffield 
was  ready.  When  I  came  up  this  morning  and  saw  that  honor 
roll  on  the  green,  my  heart  swelled  with  pride  for  old  Suffield, 
and  I  felt  that  she  had  done  in  this  war  as  she  always  had  in 
the  history  of  the  United  States." 

He  spoke  eloquently  of  the  service  in  France  of  the  American 
army  in  which  so  many  races  were  mingled.  When  an  Italian 
regiment  marched  by,  they  were  all  Italians,  the  French  regi- 
ments were  all  French,  the  British  regiments  were  all  British; 
there  were  all  kinds  in  the  American  army,  but  they  were  all 
Americans.  They  could  be  distinguished  always,  because  their 
shoulders  were  up  and  they  carried  themselves  in  that  peculiar 
manner  that  distinguished  them  as  Americans  always. 

"In  these  reconstruction  days,  my  friends,  in  the  days  fol- 
lowing this  great  war,  you  have  a  greater  duty  imposed  upon  you 
than  those  who  fought  over  across.  You  have,  as  the  orator 
this  morning  stated  in  response  to  the  address  of  welcome,  a 
different  population  in  the  town  of  Suffield.  Faces  are  strange 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  5! 

in  our  familiar  town.  Strangers  and  foreigners  are  coming  to 
our  land,  and  it  is  upon  the  shoulders  of  every  man,  woman 
and  child  in  the  United  States  today  to  stand  firm  and  fast  for 
America,  to  love  and  teach  Americanism  every  day  of  their 
lives,  in  their  private  home,  on  the  public  streets,  in  their  inter- 
course with  everybody,  so  when  the  Yanks  are  gathered  to- 
gether, they  will  be  not  only  Yanks  in  name,  but  they  will  be 
true  Americans. 

The  Toastmaster  than  said:  "I  agree  with  my  friend,  Major 
Alcorn,  with  all  my  heart.  Instead  of  being  filled  with  alarm 
because  we  have  representatives  of  all  nations,  I  rejoice  at  it. 
It  is  a  great  compliment  to  America,  not  because  so  many 
people  are  born  here,  but  because  so  many  people  come  here 
by  their  own  free  choice.  I  am  perfectly  certain  we  can  make 
Americans  out  of  them  all,  good  Americans,  for  they  came  here 
because  they  knew  that  this  was  the  best  country  in  the  world 
for  opportunity,  and  if  men  are  not  all  equal,  all  have,  so  far 
as  possible,  an  equal  chance;  certainly  it  is  more  possible  for 
people  to  succeed  and  go  further  under  our  government,  under 
the  American  flag,  than  under  any  other  government  or  envi- 
ronment in  the  world.  So  if  Suffield  has  some  Polish  farmers, 
I  am  glad  of  it.  Someone  has  got  to  be  a  farmer,  if  we  are  to 
live.  We  cannot  all  sit  in  the  city  offices  and  go  to  the  movies. 
The  county  of  Michigan  where  I  spend  three  months  every 
year,  is  filled  with  Polish  farmers;  they  are  hard  workers; 
they  work  the  way  my  father  used  to  work;  they  really  work; 
they  get  right  down  to  the  soil.  Some  of  them  stand  only  about 
a  foot  above  it  at  their  full  height.  The  whole  family  work. 
It  is  a  mighty  good  thing  we  have  all  these  contributory  streams 
from  Europe  and  they  would  become  good  Americans  by  choice. 

Now,  I  was  perfectly  delighted  to  find  two  things  this  morn- 
ing. One  was  that  Mr.  Lewis,  who  delivered  the  address  in 
1870,  is  still  alive  and  well,  although  he  is  on  the  other  side 
of  America,  and  the  other  is — I  have  met  his  son.  I  have  just 
enough  of  the  dramatic  about  me  to  think  it  is  highly  dramatic 
that  in  1870  Mr.  Lewis  gave  the  historical  address  and  Mr. 
Phelps  gave  the  historical  poem,  that  the  son  of  Mr.  Lewis  and 
the  son  of  Mr.  Phelps  are  here  today.  I  wanted  him  to  stick 
close  to  me  to  be  photographed  as  the  Heavenly  Twins,  but  we 


52  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

are  both  too  modest  for  that.  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  listen 
to  Mr.  Reed  Lewis. 

Mr.  Lewis  said:  "I  wish  I  might  turn  the  tables  today  and 
deliver  a  poem,  as  Mr.  Phelps  did  at  the  celebration  fifty  years 
ago,  but  I  am  unable  to  do  that.  Fifty  years  ago  my  father, 
a  Suffield  boy,  delivered  the  historical  address,  from  which  he 
has  quoted  this  morning.  Today  my  father  is  in  California  and 
is,  I  know,  thinking  of  this  celebration  and  what  we  are  doing. 
Both  as  his  deputy  and  in  my  own  right,  I  am  glad  and  proud 
to  be  here  and  to  have  a  small  part  in  your  celebration,  for  I 
count  myself,  although  not  a  native  son,  yet  a  son  of  SufReld 
through  my  father  and  through  my  many  forbears  who  are 
sleeping  on  your  gracious  hills.  I  can  look  back  in  direct  line 
to  at  least  two  of  the  first  selectmen  when  your  board  of  select- 
men was  organized  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 

"Such  anniversaries  as  these,  it  seems  to  me,  not  only  renew 
the  pleasant  association  of  olden  times  and  their  memories,  but 
they  also  bring  us  the  inspection  of  the  past  and  serve  the  one 
further  purpose,  to  gather  from  them  something  of  hope  and 
wisdom  for  the  future.  Again,  today  we  are  wont  to  say  or 
think  we  have  arrived;  we  are  prone  to  believe  that  the  present 
day  conditions  and  our  institutions  as  they  exist  at  this  moment 
represent  a  happy  compromise,  but,  as  we  turn  back  on  such  an 
anniversary  as  this,  we  see  how  great  the  changes  have  been  in 
fifty,  one  hundred,  two  hundred  years,  and  we  realize  that 
change  is  the  law  of  life.  Conditions  are  changed  between  these 
anniversaries,  so  they  must  change  and  develop  in  the  future. 

"Fifty  years  ago  when  my  father  stood  here,  Suffield  had  just 
successfully  completed  its  contribution  to  the  great  Civil  War 
and  the  saving  of  the  Union.  Before  the  people  who  were  here 
at  that  time,  there  extended,  could  they  have  seen  it  at  that 
time,  a  half  century  of  national  growth  and  prosperity,  the  like 
of  which  they  had  never  seen.  Today  we,  too,  have  just  com- 
pleted a  successful  part  in  a  great  war;  we,  too,  are  looking 
ahead  to  fifty  years  of  national  prosperity,  I  believe,  but  more 
than  that,  to  a  new  era  of  international  understanding  and 
friendship.  I  believe  we  look  forward  to  a  new  day  in  world 
affairs  when  there  will  be  a  great  association  of  nations  which 
will  represent  the  community  of  interests  of  all  mankind,  not 


td 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  53 

only  here  in  Suffield  and  the  rest  of  our  United  States,  but 
other  parts  of  the  globe. 

"Suffield,  it  seems  to  me,  is  itself  the  symbol  of  that  new 
community  and  interweaving  of  interests  and  relationships.  I 
think  of  all  the  sons  of  Suffield  who  have  gone  forth  to  serve 
in  other  fields,  perhaps  outside  of  the  State.  If  I  may  cite 
myself  as  an  example,  three  of  the  last  four  years  I  "have  spent 
in  government  service  in  Russia,  from  the  deserts  of  Central 
Asia  where  camels  are  the  common  beasts  of  burden,  to  the 
frozen  north  and,  as  I  read  this  morning  some  of  the  names  on 
your  roll  of  honor,  I  saw  that  many  of  the  honored  sons  of 
Suffield  today  are  of  foreign  parentage,  and  that  foreign  lands 
are  contributing  to  your  present  population  and  well-being; 
and  it  seems  to  me  that  Suffield  thus  typifies  that  new  kind  of 
community  of  interests,  and  the  hope  of  world  brotherhood 
which  we  may  look  forward  to.  So,  at  an  anniversary  where  we 
celebrate  the  great  achievements  of  the  past,  it  is  perhaps  fitting 
we  should  also  pause  and  give  greeting  to  the  great  future  in 
which  Suffield  and  ourselves  and  our  sons  and  daughters  are  to 
have  a  part." 

At  this  point  Professor  Phelps  announced  that  he  was  obliged 
to  leave  for  New  Haven  to  keep  his  engagements  and,  in  intro- 
ducing the  next  speaker,  Mr.  George  S.  Godard,  Connecticut 
State  Librarian,  left  these  parting  words: 

"  In  saying  goodby  today,  which  is,  I  hope,  only  au  revoir.  I 
want  to  thank  you  again  with  all  my  heart  for  the  honor  you 
have  done  me  in  asking  me  to  come  here  and  make  the  historical 
address.  Suffield  has  always  been  very  close  to  my  own  heart, 
because,  as  you  know,  my  father  was  born  here  and  I  still  have 
so  many  relatives  and  dear  friends  here.  I  feel  from  now  on  it 
will  be  even  closer.  I  feel  everybody  in  Suffield  is  somehow  or 
other  my  cousin,  my  family  friend,  and  I  feel  I  really  belong 
here.  I  have  been  in  some  of  your  houses  today.  I  have  looked 
over  the  wonderful  Hostess  House  with  the  extraordinary  col- 
lection of  beautiful  furniture.  I  shall  always  feel,  no  matter 
where  I  am  that  there  is  something  here  that  no  other  town 
can  mean  to  me.  So  it  is  with  a  thankful  heart  and  great 
happiness  in  coming  here  that  I  say  goodby,  not  only  to  the 
family,  God  bless  them  all,  and  Mr.  Fuller,  who  took  me  in, 


54  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

and  that  big  fellow,  Harmon,  and  to  Father  Hennessey,  that 
good  old  Methodist  that  I  brought  up,  and  all  the  rest  of  my 
individual  friends,  but  I  say  only  temporarily,  I  am  sure, 
goodby  to  the  town." 

Mr.  George  S.  Godard,  State  Librarian,  urged  the  desira- 
bility of  putting  into  shape  and  keeping  accessible  the  early 
town  and  family  records  that  are  fast  passing  out  of  existence. 
He  asked  all  to  aid  him  in  his  work  of  preserving  the  records 
of  the  towns  of  Connecticut,  and  last  but  not  least  the  records 
of  the  last  war. 

The  last  speaker,  Mr.  Seymour  C.  Loomis,  of  New  Haven, 
spoke  pleasantly  of  the  significance  of  the  celebration,  of  the 
old  associations  of  the  town  and  of  their  values. 


The  Community  Dance 

No  event  lent  itself  more  fully  to  both  the  spectacular  and 
social  features  of  the  celebration  than  the  Community  Dance 
on  Tuesday  evening.  The  idea  developed  not  only  from  a 
desire  to  provide  such  an  occasion  for  a  mingling  of  people  with 
no  restrictions  upon  admission,  but  from  an  appreciation  of  the 
facilities  that  the  broad  concreted  expanse  in  front  of  the 
Town  Hall  and  in  the  broad  street  above  and  below,  offered 
for  an  outdoor  evening  event  under  suitable  illumination. 
Nothing  but  a  clear  beautiful  night  could  be  lacking  for  such 
an  occasion,  and  fortunately  such  was  provided. 

The  long  and  broad  concreted  space  was  swept  for  the  occa- 
sion and  then  sprinkled  with  many  hundred  pounds  of  corn- 
meal,  and  transformed  into  ample  room  for  a  host  of  merry 
dancers.  The  space  was  roped  off  and  about  it  gathered  a 
great  multitude  of  people,  either  to  participate  in  the  dancing 
or  to  enjoy  the  unique  and  beautiful  spectacle  of  hundreds  of 
couples  swinging  gaily  under  the  festoons  of  electric  lights  to 
the  fine  music  of  the  iO4th  Regiment  Band.  The  rhythmic 
motion,  the  changing  colors  up  and  down  the  brightly  illumined 
street  created  a  wonderful  scene  and  old  and  young,  native  and 
foreign  born,  entered  into  the  brilliant  occasion  with  zest  and 
enjoyment. 


WEDNESDAY,  THE  SECOND  DAY 


Organ  Recital  and  Address  by  Dr.  Stephen  S.  Wise 
at  Second  Baptist  Church 

The  celebration  of  the  second  day  began  at  10  o'clock  in  the 
Second  Baptist  Church  which  was  filled  to  overflowing,  many 
standing  in  the  aisles  and  doorways.  Prayer  was  offered  by 
Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley,  pastor  of  the  church.  Professor  William 
C.  Hammond  of  Holyoke,  one  of  New  England's  foremost 
organists,  opened  the  exercises  with  a  splendid  program  of  recitals 
upon  the  organ,  and  Miss  Marie  Roszelle,  whose  mother  was 
formerly  Miss  Belle  Wilson  of  Suffield,  gained  much  applause 
by  two  vocal  selections. 

At  the  close  of  the  musical  program,  Mr.  George  A.  Peckham 
introduced  the  speaker  of  the  day,  Rev.  Stephen  S.  Wise,  Ph.D., 
LL.  D.  of  New  York  City.  His  subject  was  "  Pilgrim's  Progress, 
1620  to  1920,"  and  it  was  peculiarly  suited  to  the  occasion  inas- 
much as  the  three  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  landing  of  the 
Pilgrims  coincides  with  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  the  settlement  of  Suffield  by  men  of  the  same  stock  and  simi- 
lar religious  and  political  purposes.  An  abstract  of  Dr.  Wise's 
address  follows: 

The  year  1492,  as  the  elder  among  you  may  recall,  was  not 
celebrated  in  any  such  way  as  the  year  1920  is  being  celebrated. 
The  year  1492  was  observed  after  the  lapse  of  four  centuries 
with  joy  and  amid  thanksgiving,  and  yet  in  a  spirit  wholly  dif- 
ferent from  that  which  waits  upon  the  tercentenary  of  the  Pil- 
grims. We  could  not  help  recalling  then,  as  now,  that  1492 
marked  the  adventure  of  a  man,  but  1920  commemorates  the 
adventure  of  an  age.  For  1620  is  the  year  which  chronicled  the 
Homeric  daring  and  nobleness  of  a  whole  generation — a  genera- 
tion which  set  out,  not  to  find  the  gold  of  India,  but  to  build 
the  streets  of  the  New  Jerusalem. 

The  Pilgrims  were  pioneers  and  they  and  their  children  have 
never  ceased  to  be  pioneers  spiritual.  The  America  of  the  Pil- 


56  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

grims  was  a  spiritual  achievement,  the  America  of  the  Civil  War 
was  a  spiritual  deed.  The  America  of  the  future — will  we  dare 
spiritually  to  pioneer  in  its  upbuilding? 

The  two  prime  purposes  of  such  a  commemoration  as  this  are 
to  preserve  the  good  of  the  past  and  to  build  for  a  better  future. 
There  is  much  to  keep  that  was.  There  is  more  to  achieve  that 
ought  to  be.  Piety  and  pride  alike  lie  back  of  your  quarto-mil- 
lenary celebration — pride  and  gratitude  for  what  was,  pride  and 
hope  for  what  is  to  be.  Pride  of  ancestry  is  a  great  quality  when 
greatly  and  nobly  used.  One  likes  to  hear  about  the  sons  of  one 
group  and  daughters  of  another  and  the  great  grandchildren  of 
yet  another,  provided  each  fitly  honor  the  rock  whence  they 
were  hewn,  and  be  not  bent  upon  self-glorification. 

Because  I  am  a  Jew,  I  can  sympathize  with  those  who  would 
magnify  the  distinction  and  the  nobleness  revealed  by  their 
fathers.  Ancestry  is  never  to  be  viewed  as  a  privilege,  but  ever 
as  a  responsibility.  Let  us  think  of  our  soldiers  of  the  World  War 
which  we  helped  to  win.  No  one  would  say  that  these  were  less 
noble  than  were  the  battlers  of  the  Revolution,  and  yet  will  the 
great-grandsons  of  the  young  Americans  of  1917  and  1918  be 
entitled  to  any  special  credit  and  distinction  because  their 
great-grandfathers  were  of  the  heroes  of  the  World  War?  Para- 
phrasing the  word  of  Mark  Twain  spoken  before  the  New  Eng- 
land societies,  what  shadow  of  right  have  you  to  celebrate  in 
your  ancestors  gifts  which  they  alone  did  exercise  but  not 
transmit?  As  the  grandsons  and  great-grandsons  of  the  war  of 
1917  and  1918,  these  will  be  entitled  to  the  privilege  of  serving 
and  battling  as  did  their  sires,  to  the  distinction  of  being  braver 
and  nobler  than  were  their  heroic  ancestors. 

The  progress  of  the  Pilgrims  to  a  new  world  ranged  from  1620 
to  1920 — up  to  this  time;  1920  is  no  more  a  goal  than  1620  was 
a  starting  point.  The  progress  of  the  Pilgrims  began  when  men 
first  pioneered  in  behalf  of  a  nobler  life,  a  larger  truth,  a  broader 
charity. 

We  cannot  today  stand  where  stood  the  fathers  of  New  Eng- 
land or  the  founders  of  the  town  in  which  you  dwell.  We  cannot 
think  as  did  the  fathers  of  the  Republic.  We  cannot  be  where 
Washington  was  nor  stand  where  Lincoln  stood,  but  we  can  aim 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  57 

to  be  where  they  would  have  been  were  they  living  today.  We 
can  in  spirit  be  again  what  they  were. 

The  Pilgrims  of  1620  did  not  leave  England  behind.  They 
brought  England  with  them  and  transplanted  England  to  a  new 
world  and  built  an  England  new.  The  Englishmen  who  came  to 
build  a  new  England  were  truer  to  the  old  England  than  those 
they  left  behind.  These  brought  to  the  New  World  the  English 
mind,  its  qualities — and,  some  will  add,  its  defects.  But  its 
qualities  far  outranged  its  defects.  They  brought  the  spirit  of 
England — what  Rupert  Brooke  called  "the  English  air."  I 
remember  to  have  heard  William  Stead  say  that  the  American 
Revolution  was  not  as  against  or  away  from  England,  but  in  the 
reaffirmation  of  English  principles  forgotten  for  an  hour  by  Eng- 
land's un-English  rulers. 

In  order  to  be  true  to  England,  the  Pilgrims  or  England's  emi- 
grants had  to  leave  England  behind  them.  Out  of  England, 
they  came  immediately  after  that  age  in  which  England  had 
been  at  its  greatest — the  England  of  Elizabeth  and  Shakspere — 
and  the  foundations  which  they  laid  of  the  America  which  was 
to  be  were  English  through  and  through.  Theirs  was  the  courage 
of  the  pioneer,  the  fineness  of  justice  and  the  nobleness  of  verac- 
ity. 

I  urge  today  that  it  was  England  that  laid  the  foundations  of 
New  England,  that  Englishmen  give  to  our  country  its  bent  and 
inspiration,  that  they  flowered  in  that  perfect  product  of  the 
blending  of  the  old  England  and  the  new  England  (despite  Low- 
ell's "Nothing  of  Europe  Here") — Abraham  Lincoln.  This,  I 
urge,  because  there  are  those  who  would  move  us  to  forget  the 
debt  we  owe  to  England,  the  bond  that  links  us  with  England 
and  the  common  aims  of  the  two  great  English-speaking  peoples 
of  earth. 

The  year  1920  would  lose  much  of  its  highest  value  to  America 
if  it  failed  to  establish  a  finer  amity  and  a  more  brotherly  under- 
standing between  the  two  great  commonwealths  which  more 
than  any  other  nations  have  it  in  their  power  to  keep  and  to 
deepen  the  peace  of  the  earth. 

The  progress  of  the  Pilgrims  must  be  from  the  making  of  the 
new  England  the  foundations  of  which  they  laid,  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  new  America,  which  their  children's  children 


58  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

are  called  upon  to  build.  Ours  is  a  republic,  which  cannot  truly 
endure  unless  the  Pilgrims  of  1920  share  the  passion  of  the  Pil- 
grims of  Plymouth  Rock  for  the  res  publica,  or  for  the  common 
good. 

The  new  America  must  be  more  completely  and  truly  and 
holily  democratic  than  it  has  been  before,  its  people,  self-gov- 
erning outwardly  and  self-disciplined  inwardly — a  democracy 
belonging  to  no  party  and  no  class  and  no  sect  but  served  as  a 
veritable  religion  by  every  party  and  every  class  and  every 
sect  within  the  limits  of  the  land.  Over  and  above  all,  the  Amer- 
ica for  which  all  Americans  ought  to  be  must  be  for  all  the  world, 
keeping  the  world  to  the  noblest  ends  of  peace. 

In  1620  the  Pilgrims  took  themselves  away  from  the  Old 
World.  In  1920,  the  children's  children  of  the  Pilgrims  take 
themselves  back  to  the  Old  World.  Then  they  left  the  Old 
World  in  order  to  serve  God  and  conscience.  Now,  in  truth, 
they  must  go  back  to  the  Old  World  at  the  bidding  of  God  and 
conscience  to  serve  the  Old  World. 

"Mayflower,  Ship  of  Faith's  best  Hope! 
Thou  art  sure  if  all  men  grope; 
Mayflower!     Ship  of  Charity!" 
All  is  true  the  Great  God  saith; 
Mayflower,  Ship  of  Charity! 

With  the  singing  of  "Blest  be  the  Tie  that  Binds,"  and  the 
benediction  the  people  scattered  for  the  noon  hour  and  to  join 
the  many  who  were  coming  into  the  town  from  neighboring 
places  to  witness  the  Pageant  of  the  afternoon. 


THE  PAGEANT  OF  SUFFIELD 

Written  by  Prof.  Jack  Crawford  of  Yale  University 
and  Produced  by  Suffield  People 


The  spectacular  event  of  the  celebration  was  the  historical 
Pageant  written  by  Mr.  Jack  R.  Crawford,  Assistant  Professor 
of  English  in  Yale  University,  and  enacted  by  townspeople  on 
the  south  banks  of  Stony  Brook  a  little  above  the  Old  Boston 
Neck  Mill  Dam  which,  according  to  tradition,  was  first  con- 
structed by  Major  John  Pynchon  in  1687  to  secure  power  for 
a  corn  mill  he  had  engaged  to  build  to  promote  the  settlement 
of  the  town.  Aside  from  its  historic  significance,  the  place  was 
peculiarly  suited  for  such  a  pageant.  From  the  level  and  nar- 
row meadow  through  which  the  tree-bordered  stream  runs,  the 
pasture  ground  rises  gradually  and  evenly,  thereby  providing  a 
natural  amphitheater  for  the  spectators  to  view  the  scenes  en- 
acted on  the  level  stretches  below. 

To  the  left  of  this  natural  stage  lines  of  cedars  were  stuck 
into  the  ground  closely  together,  providing  a  screen  from  which 
the  actors  in  the  various  scenes  issued,  and  behind  which  they 
retired  as  each  episode  ended.  It  was  a  beautiful  day  and  the 
afternoon  sun,  as  it  hung  above  and  sank  towards  the  crest  of 
the  higher  ground  to  the  south,  shaded  the  audience  while  it 
fell  brightly  on  the  brilliant  and  quaint  costumes  of  the  actors 
in  the  historic  scenes  and  lit  the  autumn  foliage  of  the  graceful 
old  trees,  mirrored  in  the  smooth  waters  of  the  brook  in  the 
background.  On  the  brook  at  times  wild  duck  disported,  flying 
occasionally  up  the  stream  and  returning  to  again  add  to  the 
picturesque  features  of  the  living  pictures  of  long  ago.  The 
gleaming  paddles  of  the  canoes  of  the  Indians,  as  they  came 
to  confer  with  the  white  men  in  Puritan  garb,  added  to  both 
the  beauty  and  realism  of  the  scene.  The  setting  was  ideal, 
the  pageantry  spectacular  and  graceful,  the  action  excellent. 

Nearly  six  hundred  men,  women  and  children  of  the  town  took 
part  with  spirit  and  ability.  The  costumes  were  designed  by 


6O  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

Miss  Mary  McAndrew  of  New  York,  and  were  mainly  made  for 
the  occasion  by  the  women  of  Suffield,  the  exception  being  the 
typical  costumes  of  the  men  of  Puritan  and  Revolutionary 
times  provided  by  a  Springfield  costumer. 

As  the  hour  for  the  opening  of  the  Pageant  approached,  the 
people  gathered  on  the  hillsides  where  a  host  of  ushers  led  the 
way  to  the  seating  of  a  multitude  that  numbered  nearly  7000. 
Ample  space  was  provided  in  adjacent  lots  for  the  parking  of 
automobiles  and  all  arrangements  for  so  large  a  gathering  of 
people  were  carefully  made  and  successfully  carried  out.  Previ- 
ous to  the  opening  of  the  scenes,  Shorts'  band  gave  a  pleasing 
concert.  The  prologue  of  the  pageant  covered  the  inception 
of  the  Pilgrim  Idea  in  Holland  and  an  allegorical  representation 
of  the  wilderness  to  which  they  came,  while  the  succeeding 
episodes  represented  the  epochal  incidents  in  the  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  of  Suffield  history. 

SYNOPSIS  OF  THE  ACTION 
I 

PROLOGUE — The  Idea  Goes  Forth 
Scene — Leyden,  Holland,  1620. 

CHARACTERS 

JOHN  ROBINSON,  a  Pilgrim  preacher,  from  Scrooby,  Notting- 
hamshire. Mr.  Howard  Henshaw 
JOHN  CARVER            1  Pilgrims  Mr.  Howard  D.  Sikes 
EDWARD  WINSLOW  J                                 Mr.  Samuel  H.  Graham 
MILES  STANDISH,  a  soldier  Mr.  Howard  C.  Cone 
THE  STRANGER  Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley 
A  BALLAD  SELLER  Miss  Lucille  Wilson 
Dutch  peasants,  strolling  actors,  market  women,  acrobats, 
boatmen  and  exiled  Pilgrims  from  England. 

PILGRIMS.  Mr.  Leroy  Sikes,  Mrs.  Charles  S.  Spencer,  Mrs. 
James  Spencer,  Mrs.  George  L.  Warner,  Mrs.  Frank  Smith, 
Mrs.  Frank  King,  Mrs.  E.  G.  Hastings,  Miss  Alice  Prout,  Miss 
Madeline  Spencer,  Mrs.  Howard  Sikes,  Miss  Talulah  Sikes,  Mr. 
George  Sheldon,  Mr.  George  Warner,  Mrs.  Frank  Reid,  Mrs. 
David  L.  Brockett,  Frank  Smith,  Shirley  Reid,  George  Trues- 
dell. 

DUTCH  PEASANTS.  Isabelle  Greer,  Mrs.  Henry  Phelps,  Doro- 
thy Brown,  Lilla  Brown,  Mrs.  Earl  Spaulding,  Mr.  Charles 
Chaplin,  Mrs.  Charles  Chaplin,  George  Chaplin,  Mr.  Bert  Gil- 
lette, Mrs.  Bert  Gillette,  Anna  Gillette,  Mr.  Samuel  Adams, 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  6l 

Mrs.  Samuel  Adams,  Louise  Adams,  Mr.  George  Parks,  Mrs. 
George  Parks,  Ruth  Brown,  Eunice  Brown,  Robert  Adams, 
Elizabeth  Jones,  Geraldene  Jones,  Florence  Smith,  Mr.  Charles 
E.  Haskins,  Mrs.  Charles  E.  Raskins,  Mrs.  O.  L.  Allen,  Wallace 
Rhaum,  Louise  McComb,  Mrs.  Bridge,  Thelma  Bridge. 

MARKET  WOMEN.  May  Horsefall,  Mary  Roche,  Mrs.  Patrick 
Keohane,  Minnie  Wilson,  Mrs.  William  S.  Fuller. 

ACROBATS.     Capt.  H.  A.  Lorenz,  Henry  Dewey. 

STROLLING  PLAYERS.     Emerson  Carter,  Karl  Anderson. 

A  fair  is  in  progress  outside  the  walls  of  Leyden.  Groups  of 
Dutch  peasants  are  making  merry  among  the  stalls  and  booths. 
A  ballad  seller  passes  among  the  peasants,  singing.  Strolling 
players  and  acrobats  pass.  The  whole  populace  is  rejoicing. 

In  the  midst  of  the  pleasures  and  confusion  of  the  fair,  a  sol- 
emn chant  is  heard  in  the  distance.  John  Robinson  and  his  little 
band  of  Pilgrim  exiles  from  England  appear  and  come  forward. 
With  Robinson  are  John  Carver,  Edward  Winslow  and  Miles 
Standish.  The  Dutch  peasants  make  way  respectfully  for  the 
Pilgrims.  The  latter  kneel  in  prayer  a  moment  and  then  John 
Robinson  addresses  his  flock. 

He  reminds  his  followers  that  they  are  met  to  take  solemn 
counsel  among  themselves.  It  is  now  twelve  years  since  they 
came  to  Holland  seeking  liberty  of  conscience  and  the  right  to 
worship  God  in  their  own  way.  The  truce  between  Holland  and 
Spain  will  soon  expire,  and  Robinson  fears  that  once  more  fire 
and  sword  will  ravage  the  land,  thus  imperilling  the  Pilgrims. 
He  points  out  that  it  is  not  possible  to  return  to  England,  for 
there  they  would  again  meet  persecution.  Robinson  has,  there- 
fore, summoned  his  followers  and  proclaimed  a  day  of  humilia- 
tion to  seek  the  Lord  for  his  direction. 

But  far  across  the  seas,  the  old  Preacher  says,  there  lies  a  new 
world  where  men  may  live  in  freedom.  It  is,  therefore,  his 
thought  that  a  band  of  volunteers  might  venture  overseas  to 
make  a  home  for  the  others.  One  or  two  murmur  at  the  dangers 
of  the  voyage;  others,  more  numerous,  proclaim  their  trust  in 
Robinson. 

At  this  moment  there  enters  the  mysterious  figure  of  The 
Stranger.  Robinson  and  the  Pilgrims  are  amazed,  for  they  know 
not  this  man.  The  Stranger  bids  Robinson  to  send  his  followers 
on  the  voyage  without  fear.  Although  they  shall  encounter 


62  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

perils,  yet  will  they  achieve  their  purpose  if  they  are  steadfast 
in  faith.  With  these  words  The  Stranger  disappears  as  myste- 
riously as  he  came. 

The  decision  to  go  to  America  is  then  taken  and  Robinson 
appoints  Miles  Standish  one  of  the  leaders.  Again  the  Pilgrims 
pray  for  guidance  in  this  new  venture  and  the  scene  closes  with 
Robinson  leading  off  his  flock. 

INTERLUDE  I.    THE  WILDERNESS 

Characters 

THE  MIST  School  children  of  Suffield  and  West  Suffield 

THE  BREEZE  Miss  Grace  Hastings 

THE  WEST  WINDS  School  children  of  Suffield  and  W.  Suffield 
INDIAN  HUNTERS  Elliot  Hastings,  Hugh  Greer,  Harry  Warren 
THE  PINE  TREE  Mr.  LeRoy  Creelman 

THE  OAK  TREE  Mr.  George  Creelman 

THE  MAPLE  TREE  Mr.  Kirk  Jones 

STORM  Mr.  Ralph  Raisbeck 

FROST  Mr.  Myron  H.  Van  Wormer 

SNOW  Mr.  Eric  Provost 

THE  STRANGER  Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley 

A  PURITAN  PREACHER  Mr.  D.  F.  Sisson 

A  BAND  OF  INDIANS 

INDIANS.  Raymond  Dexter,  Charles  Mulligan,  Robert  Sack- 
ett,  Ronald  Dickson,  Ralph  Grain,  Raymond  Townsend,  Charles 
Nielson,  Warren  Bunnette,  Edmund  Thain,  Matthew  Walker, 
Stuart  Kleinert,  Charlton  Bolles,  Edward  Lockwood,  Charles 
O'Connor,  Malcolm  Pearce,  Adolph  Stage,  George  Heris,  Dennis 
Patterson,  Herbert  Wells,  Henry  Stoddard. 

INDIAN  HUNTERS.    Lloyd  Sloan,  Hugh  Greer,  Elliot  Graham. 

MIST  AND  WEST  WINDS.  Ethelyn  Fitzgerald,  Mabelle  War- 
ner, Jessie  Maznicki,  Kostek  Krupienski,  George  Brown,  Frank 
Krusinski,  Muriel  Whitman,  Kathryn  Fuller,  Mae  Adams,  Bea- 
triceChaplin,FrederickBidwell,HelenMaznicki, Francis  Keohane, 
Elderia  Bell,  Eleanor  Phelps,  Catherine  Spencer,  Florence  Warner, 
Hazel  Sparks,  Harold  Sparks,  Margaret  Raisbeck,  Fred  Gillette, 
AnnieMazeska,  Henry  Mazeska,  Louise  Albert,  Douglas  O'Brien, 
Helen  Truesdell,  Winfield  Gregg,  Charles  Fuller,  Madeline  John- 
son, Laureen  Fuller,  Norma  Wilbur,  Frank  Smith,  Edward 
Makjeska,  Howard  Gillette,  William  Ratkavatz,  Walter  Rat- 
kavatz,  Edward  Graboski,  Elizabeth  Webalier,  Henry  Sobienski, 
John  Shawley,  Margaret  Dineen,  Isabelle  Hollack,  Sophie  Al- 
bert, Anna  Kraiza,  William  Pinney,  Paul  Donnelly,  Donald  Ber- 
cury,  Bella  Ruthkowsky,  Edward  Donnelly,  Marjorie  Reid,  An- 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  63 

thony  Carney,  John  Zubowsky,  Jerry  Hayes,  Staffie  Bulawski, 
Rosie  La  Fountain,  Gertrude  Phelps,  Lois  Adams,  Ralph  Zace, 
Lucille  Morton,  Thelma  Adams,  Victoria  Birtch,  Steve  Oso- 
wieski,  Mary  Osowieski,  Russell  Adams,  Joe  Zera,  Stella  Die- 
ninski,  Joe  Goodrich,  Julia  Czertarik,  Vincent  Horanzy,  Stanley 
Horanzy,  Eleanor  Smith,  Jessie  O'Brien,  Ada  Halloway,  Mary 
Cusick,  Sidney  Jones,  Thomas  Eagleson,  Lawrence  Nicholson, 
Louis  Rickey,  Curtis  Warner,  Kathryn  Fuller,  Marion  Jacobs, 
James  Jones,  Frank  Janik,  Philip  Koster,  Charles  Clement, 
Eloise  Warner,  Lillian  Warner,  Evelyn  Spencer,  Eloise  Hauser, 
James  Valenski,  George  Chaplin,  Joseph  Lowe,  Grace  Bridge, 
Edmund  Bercury,  Bessie  Morton,  Jeanette  Hart,  Tony  Sheaha, 
Dominica  Urbanowski,  Mary  Civickla,  Mildred  Johnson,  Jennie 
Majeska,  Annie  Denro,  Theresa  Seeley,  Eunice  Brown,  Hattie 
Brewster,  Gladys  Bessett,  Edward  Miller,  Agnes  Morahan, 
Dorothy  Fuller,  Lottie  Denski,  William  Miller,  Lillian  Hollo- 
way,  Samuel  Biggerstaff,  Allawishes  Cynoski,  Mildred  Smith, 
Evelyn  Phelps,  Celia  Organek,  Stafamia  Janik,  Elizabeth  Phelps, 
Lavinia  Raisbeck,  Edward  Maleski,  Victoria  Maleski,  Helen 
Majeska,  Stanley  Avias,  Sophie  Zavisa,  Helen  Alfano,  Frank 
Baron,  Harold  Johnson,  Tony  Ciak,  Elsa  Belden,  John  Bercury, 
William  Brackoneski,  Ruth  Chapel,  Anna  Cooper,  Jennie  Crow- 
ley,  Michael  Civikla,  Joseph  Cynoski,  Elizabeth  Devine,  Mar- 
garet Eagleson,  Myra  Ford,  Nellie  Fuller,  Doris  Gantz,  Leland 
Gardner,  Anna  Gales,  Ada  Holloway,  Helen  Holloway,  Barbara 
Jesse,  Leo  Kulas,  Klemens  Lucas,  Felka  Marnicki,  Richard 
Mier,  Katherine  Monahan,  Doris  Nicholson,  Mae  Parsons, 
Katherine  Prophet,  Mamie  Pysg,  Elliot  Sikes,  Gertrude  Swa- 
lek,  Norman  Thompson,  Anna  Turek,  Victoria  Wallace,  Roland 
White,  Miriam  Greenwood,  Richard  Koster,  Robert  Alcorn, 
William  Jackson,  Virginia  Brewster,  Lester  Hart,  Ralph  Ander- 
son, Norman  Brown,  Lewis  Belden,  Agnes  Barnack,  Mildred 
Denley,  Dorothy  Hayes,  Gladys  Thorne,  Meade  Alcorn,  Sumner 
Adams,  Kenneth  Adams,  John  Leahey,  Merlyn  Adams,  Thomas 
Blake,  Daniel  Barnett,  Alvia  Toplin,  Helen  Oppenheimer,  Ade- 
laide Toplin,  Hazel  Chapman,  Evangeline  Barresford,  Catherine 
Donnelly,  Helen  Zako,  Doris  Sparks,  Irene  Brown,  Henry  Mc- 
Gourn,  Marjorie  Orr,  Dorothy  Case,  Nellie  Gifford,  Kenneth 
Orr,  Thomas  Carmody,  Leverne  Root,  Charles  Markiel,  John 
Biggerstaff,  John  Lennon,  Walter  Sheridan,  Henry  King,  John 
Carroll,  Felix  Markiel,  Edward  Phelps,  Alexander  Baker,  James 
Weldon,  Burton  Root,  Douglas  Adams,  Howard  Lillie,  Eunice 
Root,  Sophie  Harreson,  Alphonso  Zenesky,  Rose  McGourn, 
Pearl  Edwards,  Estella  Edwards,  Margaret  White,  John  Don- 
nelly, George  Zukowski,  Beatrice  Orr,  Mary  Kahl,  Nellie  Zera, 
Janice  Orr,  Stewart  Adams,  Elinor  Adams,  Celia  Romano,  Helen 


64  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

Karpinski,  Chester  Felkoski,  Elina  Covington,  Junior  Root, 
Ruby  Collins,  Oliver  Oppenheimer,  Harry  Falkouski,  Donald 
Root,  Alec  Harpenski,  Francis  Prekop,  Joseph  Skrouski,  Charles 
Weldon,  Frank  Bidwell,  Steven  Bienenski,  William  Barnett, 
Stanford  Deno,  John  Orr,  Howard  Colson,  James  Barnett,  Lewis 
Champigny,  Earnest  Case,  Antoinette  Markel,  Anna  Lennon, 
Irene  Champigny,  Anastasia  Sheridan,  Lucille  Case,  Ethel  Smith, 
Agnes  Gilligan,  Mae  BiggerstafF,  Marjorie  Pinney,  Rosaline  Col- 
son,  Evelyn  Orr,  Jennie  Sheridan,  Grace  Taylor,  Nettie  Bud- 
dington,  Dorothy  Deering,  Anna  Prekop,  Annie  Smith,  Ethel 
Griffin,  Eva  Bidwell,  Mary  Colson,  Mildred  Orr,  Winnie  Willson, 
Louise  Kuras,  Tafila  Kuras,  Marion  Rouelle,  Mary  Rague,  Ida 
Beckwith,  Elizabeth  Southergill,  Lucy  Smith,  Ethel  Warner, 
Muriel  Fitzgerald,  Agnes  Gilligan,  Annie  Zeneski,  Conception 
Ganzaley,  Helen  Weldon. 

An  open  space  along  the  fringes  of  the  great  forest  on  the 
banks  of  the  Connecticut.  Slowly  a  cloud  of  mist  rolls  over  the 
foregrounds.  Above,  the  trees  tower  up.  The  Breeze  comes 
and  gently  blows  the  mist  away.  Some  Indian  hunters  pass  in 
search  of  game. 

A  Pine  Tree  rebukes  the  Oak  and  Maple  for  permitting  mor- 
tals easily  to  pass  through  the  wilderness.  The  Oak  replies  that 
it  is  not  from  these  mortals — the  Indian  hunters — that  the  trees 
have  anything  to  fear,  but  the  Breeze  has  brought  news  of  an- 
other race  of  white  men  who  use  whole  forests  in  the  building 
of  their  towns. 

Alarmed  by  these  tidings,  the  Pine  Tree  calls  upon  Storm, 
Frost,  and  Snow  to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  wilderness  against  the 
white  men.  These  spirits  all  pledge  their  aid,  willing  to  unite 
against  the  common  enemy. 

The  Stranger,  however,  appears  and  it  seems  he  can  speak 
the  language  of  the  trees.  He  tells  the  trees  that  their  efforts 
will  be  in  vain,  for  the  white  men  have  come  to  found  a  kingdom 
greater  than  any  the  wilderness  knows.  The  Stranger  vanishes, 
leaving  the  trees  murmuring  among  themselves. 

The  scene  ends  with  a  band  of  Indians  coming  into  the  forest 
to  make  a  camp.  A  Puritan  preacher,  bearing  in  his  hands  the 
Bible,  comes  among  the  Indians  and  is  well  received  by  them. 
Thus  the  trees  of  the  forest  see  for  the  first  time  a  white  man. 


The  Breeze  in  the  Forest  tells  the  Red  Men  of  the  Coming  White  Men 


Major  Pynchon  Reading  the  Treaty  to  Pampunkshat  and  Minouasques 


The  Stranger  Urging  the  Pilgrims  to  Voyage  to  the  New  World 


The  First  Town  \Ieeting,  Major  Pynchon  Presiding 


Benjamin  Franklin  Surveying  the  Post  Route  Through  Suffield 


Capt.  Elihu  Kent  and  Minute  Men  Hear  the  Lexington  Alarm 


QUARTER   MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  65 

EPISODE  I.    THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  SUFFIELD 

Scene  I.     The  Founding  of  Suffield,  1670. 

Characters 

PAMPUNKSHAT,  an  Indian  Chieftain  Mr.  Allen  Sikes 

MINOUASQUES,  an  Indian  Princess  Mrs.  James  Eagelson 

A  RUNNER  Mr.  Sherwood  Allen 

MAJOR  PYNCHON  Mr.  Samuel  Barriesford 

SAMUEL  MARSHFIELD  Mr.  Howard  F.  Russell 

SAMUEL  HARMON  Mr.  Charles  R.  Latham 

NATHANIEL  HARMON  Mr.  David  L.  Brockett 

JOSEPH  HARMON  Mr.  George  A.  Harmon 

ZERUBBABEL  FILER  Mr.  Hubert  Scott 

ROBERT  OLDS  Mr.  Thomas  F.  Cavanaugh 

THE  STRANGER  Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley 

Indian  warriors,  settlers,  and  their  wives  and  children. 

The  Indian  chieftain,  Pampunkshat,  laments  to  the  Princess 
Minouasques  the  encroachment  of  the  white  men  upon  the  hunt- 
ing grounds.  He  is  debating  whether  to  sell  the  lands,  as  the 
white  men  wish,  or  to  make  war  upon  the  intruders.  The  prin- 
cess counsels  peace,  because  she  recognizes  that  resistance  to 
the  weapons  of  the  white  man  is  useless.  Reluctantly,  Pam- 
punkshat consents  to  sell. 

A  runner  announces  the  coming  of  Major  Pynchon  and  the 
settlers.  The  latter  enter  and  Major  Pynchon  reads  the  terms 
of  the  treaty  by  which  the  land  is  to  be  bought.  Contemptuous 
of  the  white  men's  bargaining,  Pampunkshat  accepts  the  offered 
thirty  pounds  in  gold,  and,  after  signing  a  mark  to  the  document, 
smokes  the  pipe  of  peace  with  Major  Pynchon.  The  Indians 
then  depart  in  sadness. 

The  Major  and  his  settlers  thereupon  begin  to  apportion  the 
lands  and  to  lay  out  the  limits  of  the  town.  The  Stranger 
appears  to  warn  the  settlers  that  only  by  labor  and  courage 
will  they  be  able  to  achieve  their  task.  Major  Pynchon  is  sur- 
prised at  the  coming  of  this  unknown  and  takes  him  for  some 
itinerant  preacher  carrying  the  Gospel  of  the  Indians.  When 
The  Stranger  has  gone,  Major  Pynchon  leads  in  prayer  and  asks 
a  blessing  on  the  town  his  followers  have  come  to  found  in  the 
wilderness. 


66  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

Scene  2.     Suffield  in  King  Philip's  War,  1675. 

Characters 

HEZEKIAH,  the  Boatman,  Mr.  George  A.  Martinez 

SAMUEL  HARMON  Mr.  Charles  R.  Latham 

LAUNCELOT  GRANGER  Mr.  Watson  L.  Holcomb 

MAJOR  PYNCHON  Mr.  Samuel  Barriesford 

MEDICINE  MAN  Mr.  T.  J.  Nicholson 

STORM  Mr.  Ralph  Raisbeck 

FROST  Mr.  Myron  H.  Van  Wormer 

SNOW  Mr.  Eric  Provost 

THE  PINE  TREE  Mr.  LeRoy  Creelman 

THE  OAK  TREE  Mr.  George  Creelman 

THE  MAPLE  TREE  Mr.  Kirk  Jones 

THE  STRANGER  Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley 

A  YOUTH  Horace  Smith 

Settlers,  Indian  warriors  of  King  Philip. 

Song,  by  Miss  Grace  Hastings. 

SETTLERS.  Frank  King,  Robert  Edwards,  Judson  L.  Phelps, 
Henry  Roche,  Frank  Zudowski,  Frank  Ford,  Ralph  Ford, 
Clarence  Towne,  Nelson  A.  Talmadge. 

Hezekiah,  the  Boatman,  arrives  to  take  some  of  Samuel  Har- 
mon's beaver  skins  down  the  river  to  the  market.  He  speaks 
of  the  rumors  of  an  Indian  uprising,  but  Harmon  makes  light 
of  Hezekiah's  fears.  It  is  true  that  word  has  come  of  King 
Philip's  attacks  upon  the  Rhode  Island  plantations.  Harmon, 
however,  does  not  believe  that  the  Indian  chieftain,  King 
Philip,  will  come  as  far  as  Suffield,  for  the  settlers  have  always 
lived  on  good  terms  with  the  Indians  in  this  vicinity.  Harmon, 
nevertheless,  feels  it  is  his  duty  to  report  what  he  has  heard  to 
Major  Pynchon. 

The  latter  decides  to  take  such  steps  as  are  possible  to  put 
the  little  settlement  in  a  state  of  defence.  The  Medicine  Man 
of  the  Indians  now  comes  in  and  calls  upon  the  spirits  of  the 
Wilderness,  Storm,  Frost,  Snow,  and  the  Forest  Trees,  to  aid 
the  red  men  in  their  work  of  destruction.  In  vain  The  Stranger 
warns  the  Medicine  Man  that  the  white  men  will  conquer  the 
spirits  of  barbarism. 

A  youth,  escaping  from  the  pursuing  Indians,  staggers  in  and 
falls  at  Major  Pynchon's  feet.  A  moment  after  the  Indians 
begin  their  attack.  The  settlers,  surrounding  their  women  and 
children,  are  compelled  to  flee.  The  Indians,  in  triumph,  de- 
stroy by  fire  the  town. 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  6j 

Scene  j.     The  First  Suffield  Town  Meeting,  1682. 

Characters 

THE  STRANGER  Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley 

THE  PINE  TREE  Mr.  LeRoy  Creelman 

THE  TOWN  CRIER  Mr.  John  L.  Wilson 

MAJOR  PYNCHON  Mr.  Samuel  Barriesford 

TOWN  CLERK  Mr.  William  J.  Wilson 

FIRST  TOWNSMAN  Mr.  George  L.  Warner 

SECOND  TOWNSMAN  Mr.  Clinton  D.  Towne 

SAMUEL  KENT  Mr.  Frank  Kent 

ANTHONY  AUSTIN  Mr.  James  N.  Root 

SAMUEL  MARSHFIELD  Mr.  Howard  F.  Russell 

LUKE  HITCHCOCK  Mr.  Bernie  E.  Griffin 
SELECTMEN 

THOMAS  REMINGTON  Mr.  S.  R.  Spencer 

JOHN  BARBER  Mr.  P.  D.  Lillie 
Townsfolk  of  Suffield. 

The  Stranger  tells  the  Pine  Tree  that  the  Wilderness  has  now 
been  conquered.  The  Pine  Tree  acknowledges  the  defeat.  Then 
the  Town  Crier  enters  to  proclaim  the  first  town  meeting. 

Major  Pynchon  and  the  townsfolk  assemble  and  the  major 
presides.  After  the  call  for  the  meeting  has  been  read,  the 
transaction  of  business  is  begun.  First,  five  selectmen  are 
elected.  Anthony  Austin  is  chosen  clerk.  Major  Pynchon  ap- 
points Samuel  Marshfield,  of  Springfield,  land  measurer  for  the 
ensuing  year.  Luke  Hitchcock  is  made  sealer  for  leather.  Upon 
the  question  of  fixing  the  statute  date  for  the  next  town  meet- 
ing, two  of  the  settlers  have  a  dispute  which  is,  however, 
amicably  settled  by  the  intervention  of  Major  Pynchon. 

With  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Trowbridge  as  schoolmaster 
the  meeting  ends.  The  Stranger  shows  how  the  white  men  have 
brought  law  and  order  into  the  Wilderness. 

INTERLUDE  II.  THE  STRUGGLE  OF  FREEDOM,  1776. 

Characters 

A  COLONIST  Mr.  Howard  R.  Sheldon 

His  WIFE  Miss  Helen  Cavanaugh 

THEIR  CHILD  Beatrice  Caldwell 

TAX  COLLECTOR  Mr.  William  E.  Culver 

TYRANNY  Mr.  Harold  K.  Perkins 

THE  STRANGER  Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley 
A  company  of  Red  Coats,  and  a  band  of  Embattled  Farmers. 


68  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

FARMERS.  William  H.  Orr,  Burton  R.  Spear,  S.  L.  Wood, 
Frank  S.  Briggs,  Forrest  M.  Spear,  Allen  McCann,  Richard  M. 
Loomis,  Samuel  A.  Graham,  John  O'Malley,  Andrew  Sweat- 
land,  Ernest  Warner,  Clarkin  Collins,  Robert  Greer,  Thomas 
Greer,  Walter  Greer,  Robert  McCann,  Hanford  Taylor,  Herbert 
Warren,  Bert  Holcomb. 

RED  COATS.  Morgan  Stratton,  Merton  Stratton,  Judah 
Phelps,  Roy  Briggs,  Frank  McCann,  Hugh  Greer,  Ralph  Pome- 
roy,  Joe  Claudell,  Samuel  Orr,  Jr.,  George  Greer. 

The  action  of  this  interlude  is  in  pantomime.  It  foreshadows, 
symbolically,  the  cause  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 

A  Colonist,  his  wife,  and  child,  are  supposedly  sitting  peace- 
fully by  their  hearthstone.  There  comes  to  them  a  Tax  Col- 
lector, with  the  demand  for  the  payment  of  an  unjust  tax. 
The  Colonist  refuses,  in  spite  of  the  Collector's  threats. 

The  latter  goes,  only  to  return  with  Tyranny  and  a  company 
of  Red  Coats.  Again  the  Colonist  refuses  the  demand  for  the 
tax,  whereupon  Tyranny  commands  the  Red  Coats  to  seize  the 
Colonist  and  bind  him.  The  Stranger  is,  however,  a  witness  to 
the  scene.  He  rushes  out  and  summons  the  host  of  Embattled 
Farmers.  They,  with  their  flintlocks,  drive  away  Tyranny  and 
his  Red  Coats,  and  set  the  Colonist  free.  The  scene  ends  to  the 
strains  of  "Yankee  Doodle." 

EPISODE  II.    THE  REVOLUTION 

Scene  I.     Benjamin  Franklin  surveys  a  road  through  Suffield. 

Characters 

A  PEDDLER  Mr.  H.  Leslie  Pomeroy 

FIRST  TOWNSWOMAN  Mrs.  A.  B.  Crane 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  Mr.  A.  B.  Crane 

DICCON,  his  assistant  Karl  Koehler 

THE  STRANGER  Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley 

Townswomen  and  men  of  Suffield. 

TOWNSMEN  AND  WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN  OF  SUFFIELD.  Mrs. 
Thomas  Cavanaugh,  Mrs.  Herman  Ude,  Mrs.  William  Cusick, 
Miss  Mary  Quinn,  Mrs.  Francis  Collins,  Miss  Ruth  Anderson, 
Mrs.  William  M.  Cooper,  Mrs.  Sara  Street,  Mrs.  Edward  Per- 
kins, Miss  Helen  Knox,  Miss  Barbara  Collins,  Miss  Mildred 
Caldwell,  Miss  Marjorie  Adams,  Miss  Cora  Adams,  Mrs.  H.  A. 
Lorenz,  Miss  Verna  Anderson,  Mrs.  Samuel  A.  Graham,  Mrs. 
Matthew  Leahey,  Mrs.  George  Sheldon,  Mrs.  George  B.  Wood- 
ruff, Mrs.  George  Hastings,  Mrs.  F.  S.  Bidwell,  Jr.  Mrs.  Benoni 
Thompson,  Mr.  Benoni  Thompson,  Mr.  William  Barnett,  Mr. 


General  Washington  Addressing  the  Townspeople 


A  Minuet  in  Honor  of  Washington  About  to  Depart  on  His  Way 


The  Colonists  Resist  Tyranny  and  the  Redcoats 


Discussing  the  News  of  the  Civil  War 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  69 

Max  Wever,  Mr.  Otto  Wever,  Mr.  George  Hastings,  Mr.  Francis 
Collins,  Mr.  Herbert  Stiles,  Mr.  Eddie  Koehler,  Ruth  Sheldon, 
Ruth  Lillie,  Lu  Anna  Phelps,  Grace  Taylor,  Doris  Nickolson, 
Elberta  Lillie,  Florence  King,  Esther  Farrell,  Miss  Jennette 
Martinez,  Miss  Grace  Martinez. 

A  peddler  appears  in  Suffield  with  a  stock  of  cheap  trinkets. 
When  he  proclaims  his  wares  as  imported  English  goods,  the 
women  refuse  to  buy.  Nothing  abashed,  the  peddler  confesses 
they  are  all  Connecticut  made  and  that  his  description  had  been 
added  as  a  trick  of  the  trade.  He  likewise  offers  a  patent  medi- 
cine, the  formula  of  an  old  alchemist,  and  he  is  more  successful 
in  selling  this. 

Benjamin  Franklin,  with  his  surveying  party,  happens  along 
and  rebukes  the  peddler  as  a  mountebank.  Franklin  informs 
the  women  that  temperate  living  is  the  best  medicine.  They 
offer  him  refreshments,  which  he  gladly  accepts. 

The  Stranger  enters  and  falls  into  conversation  with  Franklin. 
They  discuss  the  growing  difficulties  with  the  mother  country, 
and  Franklin  points  out  that  the  oppression  of  the  colonies  is 
caused  by  the  political  stupidity  of  the  English  government  and 
not  by  the  English  people.  He  fears,  however,  that  if  the  poli- 
ticians do  not  learn  common  sense  that  war  will  come.  Both 
agree  that  hateful  as  war  is,  it  is  sometimes  the  only  way  in 
which  men  can  secure  justice  for  themselves. 

The  scene  closes  with  Franklin  continuing  his  survey  further 
down  the  road. 

Scene  2.     The  Lexington  Alarm,  1775. 

Characters 

FIRST  TOWNSMAN  Mr.  Harold  E.  Hastings 

His  NEIGHBOR  Mr.  George  F.  Holloway 

CAPTAIN  ELIHU  KENT,  of  the  Minute  Men  Mr.  Frank  W.  Orr 
MISTRESS  MARGERY  Miss  Jennie  Raisbeck 

A  TORY  Mr.  Winfield  Loomis 

AN  ELDERLY  TOWNSMAN  Mr.  Albert  A.  Brown 

SECOND  TOWNSWOMAN  Mrs.  William  Pomeroy 

A  HORSEMAN  Mr.  Charles  R.  Brome 

Townsfolk  and  Minute  Men  of  Suffield. 

The  First  Townsman  is  discussing  with  his  Neighbor  the 
closing  of  the  port  of  Boston.  The  Neighbor  speaks  of  the 
company  of  Minute  Men,  under  Captain  Kent,  that  Suffield 


7O  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

has  secretly  raised.  It  seems  that  there  are  but  few  Tories  in 
town,  the  air  of  the  place  not  being  favorable  for  their  political 
complexions. 

Mistress  Margery,  a  patriotic  lady,  presents  Captain  Kent 
with  a  New  England  Pine  Tree  flag.  There  is,  however,  one 
Tory  present  who  is  a  witness  of  this  ceremony.  He  upbraids 
Captain  Kent  as  a  rebel  and  traitor.  Kent  replies  that  "re- 
sistance to  tyranny  is  obedience  to  God,"  and,  while  placing 
the  Tory  under  arrest,  protects  him  from  the  violence  of  the 
townsmen  who  regard  a  rope  as  the  best  answer  to  the  Tory's 
arguments. 

After  the  Tory  has  been  led  away,  several  townsfolk  offer 
Kent  their  savings  as  contributions  to  the  cause.  At  this  point 
a  horseman  rides  in  upon  a  spent  horse,  with  the  news  of 
Lexington.  Food  and  a  fresh  horse  are  given  him,  while  Kent 
calls  out  the  minute  men.  The  scene  closes  with  the  departure 
of  Kent's  company  for  Boston.  The  Stranger  watches  them  go. 

Scene  3.     Suffield  welcomes  the  victorious  General  Washington. 

Characters 

FIRST  SELECTMAN  Mr.  Egerton  Hemenway 

SECOND  SELECTMAN  Mr.  Fred  Scott,  Jr. 

THE  SCHOOLMASTER  Mr.  H.  S.  Chapman 

THE  PARSON  The  Rev.  Jesse  F.  Smith 

FIRST  SELECTMAN'S  WIFE  Mrs.  Fred  Deno 

GENERAL  WASHINGTON  Mr.  Charles  S.  Bissell 

His  STAFF,  Mr.  E.  M.  White,  Mr.  Harry  C.  Warner,  Mr.  John 

Raisbeck,  Mr.  James  H.  Prophett,  Mr.  Charles  R.  Brome. 

Townsfolk  of  Suffield. 

FLOWER  MAIDENS.  Gladys  Taylor,  Hattie  Ford,  Dorothy 
Kent,  Mildred  Gregg,  Muriel  Reed,  Dorothy  Hauser,  Mrs.  Van 
Derhule,  Isabelle  Bawn,  Caroline  Hauser,  Lois  Merrill,  Beth 
Morris,  Bertha  Phelps,  Nellie  Quinn,  Ruth  Taylor,  Catherine 
O'Connor,  Anna  Cain,  Anna  Wiedeker,  Margie  Thompson, 
Lillian  Fisher,  Marion  Fuller,  Marion 'Henshaw,  Doris  Bridge, 
Grace  Morrison,  Isabelle  Taylor,  Emily  Whalen,  Leslie  Holla- 
way,  Jennie  Pearl,  Loranie  Taylor,  Roslyn  Colson,  Marjorie 
Beach,  Jennie  Sheridan,  Rhoda  Campbell,  Lillian  Zimmerman, 
Mary  Dayton. 

The  First  Selectman  is  worried  over  his  address  of  welcome 
which  he  must  deliver  upon  the  arrival  of  General  Washington. 
The  Second  Selectman  wishes  included  a  reference  to  the  heavy 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  Jl 

taxes  which  the  War  of  Independence  has  laid  upon  the  people. 
He  is  told  that  in  a  time  of  victory  everyone  should  rejoice  and 
keep  the  worry  over  taxes  for  later  consideration.  The  school- 
master is  eager  to  add  some  figures  of  speech  to  the  Selectman's 
address — say  a  comparison  of  General  Washington  to  an  eagle, 
and  the  States  to  Phoenixes  new  risen  from  the  ashes  of  war. 
The  Selectman  suggests  that  the  Schoolmaster  make  whatever 
additions  he  considers  appropriate,  provided  he  does  not  use 
words  that  are  too  long.  The  Parson  likewise  desires  to  insert 
an  appropriate  text.  The  Selectman's  wife  adds  to  his  troubles 
by  a  desire  to  present  General  Washington  with  a  bouquet  of 
flowers.  The  Schoolmaster  agrees  that  this  may  be  done,  since 
the  chariots  of  the  Roman  emperors  were  decked  with  flowers 
on  the  days  of  their  triumphs. 

The  speech  is  finally  settled  when  General  Washington  and 
his  staff  arrive.  The  young  girls  throw  rose  petals  in  his  path, 
and  all  Suffield  turns  out  to  welcome  him  with  flags  and  garlands. 

The  Selectman  delivers  his  speech,  to  which  Washington 
makes  generous  reply,  pointing  out  the  noble  part  the  town  of 
Suffield  has  borne  in  the  struggle  for  independence. 

The  scene  concludes  with  the  departure  of  Washington  after 
a  country  dance  and  general  merry-making  have  been  held  in 
his  honor. 

INTERLUDE  III.    THE  STRUGGLE  WITHIN,  1861 

Characters 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  Mr.  Allen  P.  Phillips 

THE  STRANGER  Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley 

GROUP  OF  SLAVES.    Mr.  Oscar  Chamberlain,  Mrs.  Julia  Brown, 

Mrs.  Susan  Wrenn,  Miss  Virginia  Rice,  Mr.  Jerry  Hayes, 

Mrs.  Matilda  Hayes,  Saidee  Johnson,  Mr.  Ephraim  Dunston, 

Mae   Lockett,   Bailey  Lockett,  Virginia   Brewster,  Barbara 

Jesse. 

An  old  plantation  melody  is  heard  in  the  distance.  A  group 
of  slaves  from  a  Southern  cotton  plantation  enter  singing.  They 
carry  with  them  baskets  of  cotton.  As  they  pass  across  the 
stage,  the  figure  of  Abraham  Lincoln  appears.  He  seems  lost 
in  thought.  The  Stranger  comes  to  him  and  questions  him. 
Lincoln  muses  upon  the  problem  of  slavery — the  injustice  which 
compels  a  race  to  live  in  bondage.  The  Stranger  goes,  having 


72  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

planted  in  Lincoln's  mind  the  feeling  that  this  injustice  must 
soon  be  grappled  with. 

EPISODE  III.    THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1861-1865 

Scene  I.     The  news  conies  to  Suffield  of  the  attack  on  Fort 

Sumter,  April,  1861. 

Characters 

FIRST  TOWNSMAN  Mr.  F.  S.  Bidwell,  Jr. 

SECOND  TOWNSMAN  The  Rev.  Father  Hennessey 

THIRD  TOWNSMAN  Mr.  Daniel  J.  Sweeney 

FOURTH  TOWNSMAN  Mr.  R.  N.  Buffen 

TELEGRAPH  BOY  Normand  Thompson 

A  CITIZEN,  admirer  of  Major  Anderson        Mr.  Thomas  Couch 

Townsfolk  of  Suffield. 

TOWNSFOLK  OF  SUFFIELD.  Mary  Cooper,  Mrs.  Carrie  Sutton, 
Margaret  Hatheway,  Edna  Pomeroy,  Frances  Seymour,  Ruth 
Remington,  Mrs.  Minnie  Thompson,  Mrs.  Clifford  Prior,  Mrs. 
Terry  Chapin,  Mrs.  Thomas  Couch,  Mrs.  Joseph  Claudell,  Mr. 
Christopher  Michels,  Mrs.Leroy  Creelman, Mrs.  Charles  Kurvin, 
Miss  Alice  Sheldon,  Mrs.  Jennie  Hazard,  Miss  Catherine  Ken- 
nedy, Miss  Mary  Kennedy,  Miss  Celia  Kennedy,  Mrs.  William 
Pinney,  Miss  Edna  Pinney,  Mr.  Arthur  Beach,  Mr.  Alfred  Spen- 
cer, Mrs.  Alfred  Spencer,  Mr.  Adolph  Koster,  Alice  Link,  Edith 
Whitman,  Mr.  Frank  Kearns,  Mrs.  Frank  Kearns,  Mr.  Harry 
Kehoe,  Mrs.  Harry  Kehoe,  Robert  Greer,  Thomas  Greer,  Wal- 
ter Greer,  Flora  Campbell,  Helen  Campbell,  Mrs.  Charles  Prout, 
Milton  Beach,  Harold  Beach,  Mr.  Alfred  Sheldon,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Morton  Merrill,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  Austin,  Mrs.  Thatcher 
Belfit,  Miss  Lylia  Woodruff,  Mrs.  Clinton  Towne,  Mrs.  Eger- 
ton  Hemengway,  Calvin  Parks,  Leroy  Parks,  Anna  Clement 
Mrs.  Belden,  Miss  Elberta  Prout,  Eunice  Greenwood,  Mrs. 
Weston  Stiles,  Mr.  G.  M.  Montgomery. 

The  Townsmen  are  discussing  the  crisis  confronting  the  coun- 
try. All  New  England  is  busy  helping  runaway  slaves  to  escape 
via  what  was  known  as  "the  underground  railway" — a  secret 
organization  for  hiding  fugitives.  The  crisis  has  become  acute 
by  the  demand  of  South  Carolina  that  Major  Anderson  evacuate 
Fort  Sumter.  One  townsman  is  of  the  opinion  that  to  surrender 
Fort  Sumter  is  the  only  way  to  avoid  civil  war.  According  to 
him,  the  surrender  would  appease  the  anger  of  the  South,  and 
the  whole  question  at  issue  could  then  be  settled  by  compromise. 
The  others  do  not  agree  with  him.  The  question  of  secession 
cannot  be  argued.  The  Union  must  be  preserved  at  all  costs. 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  73 

A  compromise  which  involves  hauling  down  the  flag  from  Fort 
Sumter  is  not  worth  having. 

From  the  telegraph  offices  comes  the  news  of  the  attack  on 
Sumter  and  of  Major  Anderson's  heroic  resistance.  Suffield  is 
in  an  uproar  of  patriotic  fervor.  An  admiring  citizen  sings  a 
famous  song  in  honor  of  Major  Anderson.  Even  the  townsman 
who  advocated  surrender  is  converted.  The  scene  closes  to  the 
singing  of  "John  Brown's  Body." 

Scene  2.     President  Lincoln  issues  a    call  for  volunteers,  1861. 

Characters 

FIRST  TOWNSMAN  Mr.  F.  S.  Bidwell,  Jr. 

SECOND  TOWNSMAN  The  Rev.  Father  Hennessey 

THIRD  TOWNSMAN  Mr.  Daniel  J.  Sweeney 

READER  OF  THE  PROCLAMATION  Mr.  Gilbert  W.  Phelps 

A  VETERAN  OF  THE  MEXICAN  WAR          Mr.  Anthony  P.  Kulas 
A  DRUMMER  BOY  Mr.  Malcolm  Pearse 

Two  TOWNSWOMEN  Miss  Emma  Newton,  Mrs.  Alfred  Sheldon. 
Townsfolk  of  Suffield,  and  recruits. 

RECRUITS.  Fred  Beach,  Waldo  Ford,  Harold  Hinckley, 
Charles  Graham,  Everett  King,  Henry  Seymour,  Raymond 
Cannon,  Alfred  Cannon,  Henry  Raisbeck,  Sidney  Patterson, 
Francis  Warner,  Leslie  Martinez,  Howard  Barnett,  Harold 
Brown,  Donald  Brown,  Harold  Beach,  Frank  Creelman,  Leland 
King,  Elton  Halladay,  Raymond  Fisher,  Harold  Phelps. 

It  is  a  few  weeks  after  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter.  The  towns- 
men are  rejoicing  over  the  heroic  resistance  made  by  Major 
Anderson.  There  is  a  discussion  over  the  probable  length  of 
the  war.  Some  believe  it  will  be  soon  over;  others  are  not  so 
sure,  for  the  South  is  stubborn  and  well  trained  in  the  use  of 
arms.  In  the  midst  of  their  talk,  the  President's  call  for  volun- 
teers arrives,  and  is  read  out  to  the  townsfolk  by  one  of  the 
citizens.  At  its  conclusion,  the  First  Townsman  opens  a  re- 
cruiting office,  and  the  young  men  of  Suffield,  amid  cheers, 
flock  to  enlist.  A  Veteran  of  the  Mexican  War  volunteers  as 
drill-master  and  endeavors  to  instruct  the  young  men  in  the 
rudiments  of  military  formations.  The  townsfolk  all  join  in 
singing  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner." 


74  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

Scene  j.     The  news  of  Gettysburg,  July,  1863. 

Characters 

FIRST  OLD  MAN  Mr.  John  E.  Dunn 

SECOND  OLD  MAN  Mr.  W.  C.  O'Neil 

MRS.  HARPER  Mrs.  LeRoy  Creelman 

NEWSBOY  Meade  Alcorn 

Townsfolk  of  Suffield  and  a  Recruiting  Squad. 

WOMEN  IN  BLACK.  Mrs.  Joseph  Gregg,  Mrs.  Victor  L.  Green- 
wood, Mrs.  Benj.  Van  Wormer. 

Many  weary  months  of  war  have  passed  and  the  first  enthu- 
siasm has  been  somewhat  dimmed.  The  Union  losses  have  been 
heavy  and  no  apparent  progress  has  been  made  in  putting  down 
the  Confederacy.  The  First  Old  Man  meets  his  neighbor,  Mrs. 
Harper,  and  asks  if  she  has  any  news  of  her  son.  She  replies 
that  all  she  knows  is  that  the  War  Department  has  reported 
him  a  prisoner  at  Andersonville — wounded. 

The  Second  Old  Man  is  war  weary  and  discouraged.  After 
Chancellorsville,  he  believes  the  North  should  have  made  peace. 
What  is  the  use  of  carrying  on  the  struggle  any  longer?  Mrs. 
Harper  and  the  First  Old  Man  sharply  rebuke  him.  He  talks, 
they  say,  like  a  Copperhead.  In  spite  of  the  draft,  in  spite  of 
all  the  losses,  the  war  must  go  on.  There  can  be  no  turning 
back  now.  And  then  comes  a  newsboy  crying  an  "extra". 
Eagerly  the  paper  is  bought  and  in  it  is  found  the  news  of  Gettys- 
burg. This  is  almost  immediately  followed  by  word  of  Grant's 
capture  of  Vicksburg.  The  tide  has  turned  and  the  Confederacy 
is  doomed.  In  joy  and  relief  the  townsfolk  sing  "The  Battle 
Hymn  of  the  Republic." 

Scene  4.     When  Johnny  Comes  Marching  Home,  1865. 

Characters 

FIRST  OLD  MAN  Mr.  John  E.  Dunn 

SECOND  OLD  MAN  Mr.  W.  C.  O'Neil 

MRS.  HARPER  Mrs.  LeRoy  Creelman 

EZRA,  her  wounded  son  Mr.  Frank  Creelman 

THE  STRANGER  The  Rev.  E.  Scott  Farley 

Townsfolk  and  returning  troops 

RETURNING  TROOPS.  Fred  Beach,  Waldo  Ford,  Harold 
Hinckley,  Charles  Graham,  Everett  King,  Henry  Seymour, 
Raymond  Cannon,  Alfred  Cannon,  Henry  Raisbeck,  Sidney 
Patterson,  Francis  Warner,  Leslie  Martinez,  Howard  Barnett, 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  75 

Harold  Brown,  Donald  Brown,  Harold  Beach,  Frank  Creelman, 
Leland  King,  Elton  Halladay,  Raymond  Fisher,  Harold  Phelps. 

The  same  old  men  are  eagerly  discussing  the  news  of  Lee's 
surrender  at  Appomattox.  The  war  is  over,  for  the  remaining 
Confederate  forces  in  the  field  hardly  count.  Mrs.  Harper 
passes,  leaning  on  the  arm  of  her  wounded  boy,  Ezra,  now 
returned  to  her.  Ezra  tells  of  his  joy  at  getting  home.  He  is 
going  to  settle  down  on  a  farm  and  raise  some  tobacco. 

Their  joy  is  increased  by  the  return  of  the  Suffield  men  who 
have  been  fighting  four  long  years  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
The  troops  enter  singing  "When  Johnny  Comes  Marching 
Home."  The  townsfolk  turn  out  to  do  them  honor  and  deck 
the  boys  in  blue  with  flowers. 

As  the  stage  clears,  The  Stranger  comes  forward  alone,  and 
says:  "Suffield  does  not  yet  know  that  Abraham  Lincoln  has 
been  called  to  his  Father's  bosom." 

FINALE 

Characters 

THE  HERALD  The  Rev.  Victor  L.  Greenwood 

GENERAL  PHINEAS  LYMAN  Mr.  D.  N.  Carrington 

GIDEON  GRANGER  Mr.  Howard  F.  Pease 

APOLLOS  PHELPS  Mr.  Benjamin  Phelps 

DR.  SYLVESTER  GRAHAM  Mr.  Joseph  P.  Graham 

QUEEN  NICOTINA  Mrs.  Spencer  Montgomery 

COLUMBIA  Miss  Marjorie  Halladay 

WORLD  WAR  SOLDIER  Mr.  John  Kennedy 

WORLD  WAR  SAILOR  Mr.  Francis  Cavanaugh 

UNCLE  SAM  Mr.  John  O.  Crane 

Polish  Interlude 

TRAIN  OF  NYMPHS.  Dorothy  Fuller,  Katherine  Fuller,  Marion 
Greenwood,  Helen  Truesdell,  Dorothy  Root,  Barbara  Kent, 
Marjory  Orr,  Beatrice  Chapman,  Marjorie  Reed,  Marjorie 
Hart,  Margaret  Raisbeck,  Nellie  Fuller,  Eloise  Hauser,  Grace 
Bridge,  Lois  Adams,  Eleanor  Phelps,  Eloise  Warner,  Muriel 
Whitman,  Grace  Taylor,  Lillian  Warner,  Helen  Sheldon. 

POLISH  GROUP.  Sophia  Organek,  Jennie  Brackoneski,  Victo- 
ria Kulas,  Jennie  Dambrowski,  Stella  Bodzian,  Walenty  Sudol, 
Adolph  Nasuta,  Tolesfor  Sturzinski,  Joseph  Zukowski,  Bruna 
Kulas,  John  Summers,  Stanley  Liss,  Stella  Janik,  Stella  Bie- 
lawski,  Victoria  Wolotkiewiz,  Felka  Maznicki,  Chester  Mu- 
rawski,  Tadensy  Walenzak,  Francis  Ruchinski. 


j6  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

In  the  center  of  the  stage  The  Stranger  stands  to  watch  the 
characters  in  Suffield's  history  pass  before  him.  First  came  the 
Pilgrims  with  John  Robinson  and  the  Dutch  peasants.  Next, 
the  Indians  and  the  Spirits  of  the  Wilderness.  Behind  them, 
Major  Pynchon  and  the  first  settlers.  The  Colonists  and  Red 
Coats  follow,  with  Benjamin  Franklin  and  General  Washington 
at  their  head.  Another  division  is  composed  of  the  slaves  and 
the  citizens  and  soldiers  of  1861. 

Down  the  center  walk  another  group  of  Suffield's  famous 
men,  and  a  Herald  proclaims  their  accomplishments.  Among 
these  are:  General  Phineas  Lyman  of  Colonial  days;  Gideon 
Granger,  the  Postmaster  General  of  1801,  and  Senator;  Apollos 
Phelps,  a  man  famous  for  his  physical  and  moral  strength;  and 
Doctor  Graham,  the  well-known  physician. 

Next,  Queen  Nicotina  and  her  train  appears.  She  is  followed 
by  the  Interlude  of  the  Polish  People  who  have  made  their  home 
in  Suffield. 

Last  of  all,  Columbia  and  Uncle  Sam  lead  forward  the  new 
crusaders  of  freedom,  a  Soldier  and  a  Sailor  of  the  Great  World 
War. 

The  Pageant  of  Suffield  ends  with  actors  and  audience  singing 
together  "America." 


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THURSDAY,  THE  THIRD  DAY 


The  Parade  and  the  Dedication  of  Memorials 
to  Suffield' s  Soldiers  and  Sailors 

The  third  day  of  Suffield's  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniver- 
sary celebration  opened  with  an  hour's  concert  by  the  iO4th 
Regiment  Band  in  front  of  the  Town  Hall.  The  historic  green 
near  the  Soldier's  Monument  was  filled  with  people,  while 
others  parked  their  automobiles  thickly  on  either  side  of  the 
street  and  along  the  Common  to  view  the  parade,  the  line  of 
which  was  formed  on  Main  Street  at  Bissell's  Corner,  Starting 
promptly,  it  was  led  by  the  Chief  Marshal,  James  N.  Root, 
with  Assistant  Marshals  J.  H.  Prophet,  E.  M.  White,  Harry 
Warner,  A.  B.  Crane,  H.  B.  Chapman,  and  H.  F.  Pease,  and 
by  the  Tariffville  Boys'  Drum  Corps,  the  oldest  member  of 
which  is  under  fourteen  years.  In  their  bright  blue  uniforms, 
the  boys  made  a  fine  appearance.  Following  them  in  this 
division  were  the  school-children  of  the  town,  the  younger  ones 
in  four  decorated  motor  trucks  and  the  older  marching  in  order, 
all  waving  flags  and  entering  fully  into  the  spirit  of  the  occasion. 
Behind  them  were  the  veterans  of  the  Civil  and  Spanish  wars 
in  decorated  automobiles.  The  second  division  was  lead  by 
the  iO4th  Regiment  band  which,  under  an  escort  of  the  Suffield 
School  Cadets,  was  followed  by  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  town 
who  served  in  the  Great  War.  Many  of  these  men  wore  on  their 
uniforms  overseas  chevrons;  some  wore  wound  stripes,  and  a 
number  of  medals  glittered  in  the  sun.  By  a  fortunate  cir- 
cumstance, Lieut.  A.  Waldron  Miller  had  the  day  before  returned 
from  service  with  the  American  Army  of  occupation  at  Coblenz, 
and  was  placed  in  command  of  the  service  men  who  received 
many  tributes  of  cheers  along  the  line  of  their  march.  After 
them  marched  one  hundred  men  of  the  famous  Putnam 
Phalanx,  of  Hartford,  in  their  picturesque  uniforms  and  ac- 
companied by  their  own  fife  and  drum  corps.  At  the  end  of 
the  division  came  the  Suffield  and  West  Suffield  fire  com- 


78  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

panics,  some  of  the  former  appearing  in  original  uniforms  with 
red  blouses  and  helmets,  and  drawing  the  old  original  hand 
pump,  bought  in  1871,  and  contrasting  sharply  with  the  modern 
chemical  truck  with  which  the  fire  department  of  the  village 
is  now  equipped. 

The  third  division  was  headed  by  the  Father  Matthew 
T.  A.  B.  Society  Drum  Corps,  an  exceedingly  well  drilled  or- 
ganization, followed  by  the  float  and  marchers  of  the  Polish 
Group,  which  in  three  divisions  formed  one  of  the  colorful 
spectacles  of  the  parade.  The  first  division  included  50  men, 
the  second  50  women,  and  the  third  50  boys.  The  men  and 
women  divisions  appeared  in  the  dress  of  their  homeland; 
the  boys  in  Boy  Scout  uniforms.  In  the  complete  cast  of 
characters  of  the  pageant  of  the  day  before,  one  of  the  spec- 
tacular features  of  a  parade  was  ready  at  hand.  In  their 
appropriate  costumes  were  Captain  Miles  Standish,  Major 
Pynchon,  General  Phineas  Lyman,  General  Washington,  and 
other  leaders  in  the  pageantry,  with  the  Indians,  Hollanders, 
Pilgrims,  and  the  colonial  men  and  dames.  Following  in  line 
were  the  tastefully  decorated  floats  of  the  following  organiza- 
tions or  groups: 

Sibbil  Dwight  Kent  Chapter,  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution  representing  a  colonial  scene. 

Ladies'  Wide  Awake  Club  of  West  Suffield,  representing 
William  Penn  signing  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Indians. 

The  Woman's  Reading  Club,  carrying  a  streamer,  "Knowl- 
edge is  Power." 

The  Suffield  Grange,  representing  the  first  Thanksgiving  after 
the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims. 

The  Colored  People's  Society,  representing  plantation  days. 

The  Mapleton  Literary  Club. 

The  Suifield  School. 

Another  feature  adding  greatly  to  the  attractiveness  of  the 
parade  was  the  Horseback  Division  almost  equally  made  up  of 
men  and  women  on  well  groomed  horses,  while  children  rode 
gaily  bedecked  ponies.  Among  the  horses  were  three  hunters 
owned  by  Lawrence  Haynes  of  Springfield,  and  some  of  the 
best  horses  in  Suffield  were  in  line. 

All  these  features,  constituting  a  parade  over  a  mile  long, 


QUARTER   MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 


79 


rich  in  color  and  distinctive  costume,  proceeding  to  the  music 
of  bands  and  drum  corps,  made  one  of  the  most  attractive 
events  of  the  celebration. 

The  long  column  proceeded  up  Main  Street,  turning  at 
Fuller's  Corner  at  the  junction  of  the  Crooked  Lane  or  old 
Springfield  road,  and  countermarched  to  the  Town  Hall,  where 
the  divisions  gathered,  with  many  spectators  to  attend  the 
exercises  of  the  dedication  of  the  bronze  tablets  upon  which 
are  the  names  of  all  the  Suffield  men  serving  in  all  the  wars  of 
their  country  and  placed  in  position  on  the  front  walls  of  the 
Town  Hall,  one  at  the  north  corner  and  the  other  at  the  south. 
The  inscription  above  the  names  reads: 

"ERECTED  BY  THE  TOWN  OF  SUFFIELD  IN  MEMORY  OF 
HER  SONS  WHO  HAVE  SERVED  IN  WARS  OF  THEIR  COUNTRY." 

The  Tablets  are  of  bronze  and  record  eight  hundred  and  thirty 
eight  names,  ninety -four  in  the  French  and  Indian  Wars; 
two  hundred  and  sixty  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution;  eighteen  in 
the  War  of  1812;  two  in  the  Mexican  War;  two  hundred  and 
eighty-six  in  the  Civil  War  and  one  hundred  and  seventy  in  the 
World  War.  In  the  list  of  names  of  those  in  service  in  the  World 
War  the  asterisk  designates  those  who  died  in  service;  S.A.T.C., 
Students  Army  Training  Corps;  and  Y.,  those  in  the  Y.M.C.A. 
units. 

French  and  Indian  Wars 


Major-Gen.  Phinehas 

Lyman 

Adams,  Benjamin 
Adams,  David 
Adams,  Joel 
Adams,  John 
Adams,  Samuel 
Allin,  Caleb 
Allin,  Jonathan 
Allin,  Samuel 
Austin,  Daniel 
Austin,  Elias 
Austin,  Thomas 

Bancroft,  Benjamin 
Bement,  David 
Bement,  Edmund 
Bliss,  Peletiah 
Bronson,  Joseph 
Burbank,  Ebenezer 


Foster,  Edward 
Fowler,  Job 

Graham,  Rev.  John 
Granger,  Abner 
Granger,  Asher 
Granger,  Bildad 
Granger,  Enoch 
Granger,  Joel 
Granger,  Josiah 
Granger,  Samuel 
Granger,  Zadock 

Hall,  Isaac 
Halladay,  James 
Halladay,  Moses 
Hanchitt,  Oliver 
Hanchitt,  Zacheas,  Jr. 
Harmon,  Benjamin 
Harmon,  John 
Harmon,  Nehemiah 
Harmon,  Samuel 


Hathaway,  John 
Hitchcock,  Aaron 

Kent,  Asel 
Kent,  Elihu 
Kent,  Joel 
Kent,  Noah 
Kent,  Oliver 
Kent,  Paul 
King,  Dan 
King,  Ebenezer 
King,  Eliphalet 
King,  Joseph 
King,  Seth 

Leavitt,  John 
Lyman  Gamaliel  Dwight 
Lyman,  Phinehas,  Jr. 
Lyman,  Thaddeus 

Mather,  Eusebeas 
Mather,  Increase 


8O                             QUARTER   MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

Nelson,  Isaac 

Pomroy,  Phineas 

Sikes,  Lot 

Nelson,  James 

Remington,  Elijah 

Spencer,  Daniel,  Jr. 

Nelson,  Jeremiah 

Remington,  Simeon 

Spencer,  Elisha 

Norton,  Jonathan 

Rising,  Abel 

Spencer,  Hezekiah 

Norton,  Shadrach 

Rising,  James 

Spencer,  John 

Norton,  Zebulon 

Rising,  Paul 

Spencer,  Reuben 

Roe,  Abel 

Old,  Joseph 

Roe,  Joseph 

Warner,  Ely 

Old,  Stephen 

Roe,  Thomas 

Warner,  Moses 

Warner,  Nathaniel 

Phelps,  Aaron 

Sheldon,  Caleb 

Warner,  Samuel 

Phelps,  Timothy 

Sheldon,  Elijah 

White,  John 

Pomroy,  Dan 

Sheldon,  Jonathan 

Winchell,  John 

Pomroy,  Noah 

Winchell,  Joseph 

War  of  the  Revolution 

Adams,  David 

Dewey,  Jedediah 

Hanchet,  Ezra 

Adams,  Joel 

Dewey,  Oliver 

Hanchet,  Luke 

Adams,  John,  Jr. 

Dewey,  Peletiah 

Hanchet,  Oliver 

Allen,  Caleb 

Dewey,  Silas 

Harmon,  Benjamin 

Allen,  Chester 

Dunlay,  Darius 

Harmon,  Elias 

Allen,  Gershom 

Harmon,  Eus 

Allen,  Samuel 

Easton,  Elijah 

Harmon,  Gad 

Answitz,  Apollus 

Evans,  John 

Harmon,  Israel 

Archer,  Thomas 
Austin,  Joseph 
Austin,  Nathaniel 
Austin,  Phinehas 
Austin,  Ralph 
Austin,  Richard 
Austin,  Thomas 

Fervin,  Zebulon 
French,  Amaziah 
French,  Calvin 
Fuller,  James 

Gains,  Samuel 
Gilbert,  Isaac 

Harmon,  Jaques 
Harmon,  John 
Harmon,  John,  Jr. 
Harmon,  Samuel 
Hathaway  A.  Thrall 
Hathaway,  Guilford 
Hathaway,  John 
Hathaway,  Seth 

Ball,  Moses 
Bancroft,  John 
Barker,  Ethen 

Gillet,  Asael 
Gillet,  Benjamin 
Gillet,  Elihu 
Gillet,  Isaac 

Hathaway,  Wilber 
Hill,  John 
Hucksley,  Moses 
Hulbert,  Alvin 

Barnes,  William 

Gillet,  Rufus 

Hulbert,  Lucius 

Bissell,  Isaac 

Goldwin,  Matthew 

Bissell,  Samuel 

Goodkins,  Samuel 

Ingraham,  Jeremiah 

Bliss,  Eli 

Graham,  John 

Briggs,  Joseph 

Graham,  Narcissus 

Jones,  John 

Burbank,  Ebenezer 

Graham,  Sheldon 

Joslin,  Reuben 

Burbank,  Joel 

Granger,  Abraham 

Burbank,  Seth 

Granger,  Asher 

Kellogg,  Martin,  Jr. 

Granger,  Bildad 

Kent,  Augustin 

Campbill,  William 

Granger,  Daniel 

Kent,  Benjamin 

Chamberlain,  Jeremiah 

Granger,  Jacob 

Kent,  Elihu 

Chaplin,  Ebenezer 

Granger,  Oliver 

Kent,  Elihu,  Jr. 

Cooper,  Jacob 

Granger,  Phinehas 

Kent,  Joel 

Coy,  Edy 

Granger,  Robert 

Kent,  Jonathan  K. 

Crane,  Simeon 

Granger,  Samuel 

Kent,  Oliver 

Curtiss,  Frederick 

Granger,  Samuel  4th 

Kent,  Samuel 

Granger,  Zadock 

Kent,  Seth 

Dady,  James 

Kent,  Titus 

Daniels,  Benjamin 

Hale,  Samuel 

King,  Dan 

Denslow,  Benjamin 

Hall,  John 

King,  Eli 

Denslow,  Philander 

Hanchet,  David 

King,  Eliphalet 

Suffield  Service  Men  in  the  World  War 


Pageant  Characters  in  the  Parade 


TABLET  at  North  Corner  of  Town  Hall 


TABLET  at  South  Corner  of  Town  Hall 


Float  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution 


Pageant  Characters  of  Civil  War  Times 


QUARTER   MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD                                      8  1 

King,  Gideon 

Pearman,  Joseph 

Sikes,  Ashbel 

King,  Joseph 

Pease,  Augustin 

Sikes,  David 

King,  Joseph,  3d 

Pease,  Joseph 

Sikes,  Gideon 

King,  Josiah 

Pease,  Silas 

Sikes,  Jacob 

King,  Nathaniel 

Pease,  Warham 

Sikes,  John 

King,  Pelatiah 

Pease,  Zeno 

Sikes,  Titus 

King,  Thaddeus 

Pheland,  Thomas 

Sikes,  Victory 

King,  Theodore 

Phelps,  Dan 

Skinner,  Timothy 

King,  William 

Phelps,  Timothy 

Smith,  Comfort 

Kirtland,  John 

Phillips,  Eliphalet 

Smith,  Elisha 

Pierce,  Francis 

Smith,  John 

Lacy,  Isaac 

Policy,  Amasa 

Smith,  Seth 

Lane,  Dan 

Pomeroy,  Asa 

Spear,  Elihu 

Lane,  William 

Pomeroy,  Isaac 

Spear,  Elijah 

Laphland,  John 

Pomeroy,  John 

Spear,  Joshua 

Larry,  Kada 

Pomeroy,  Jonathan 

Spear,  Moses 

Larry,  Ready 

Pomeroy,  Joseph 

Spencer,  Daniel 

Leach,  Lewis 

Pomeroy,  Nathaniel 

Spencer,  Eliphalet 

Leavitt,  John 

Pomeroy,  Peletiah 

Spencer,  Hezekiah 

Leavitt,  Samuel 

Pomeroy,  Phebus 

Spencer,  Jehiel 

Lord,  John 

Preston,  Jonathan 

Spencer,  John 

Loveland,  Joel 

Spencer,  Jonathan 

Lumbard,  Justin 

Remington,  Abijah 

Spencer,  Reuben 

Remington,  Hosea 

Spencer,  Simeon 

Mather,  Increase 

Remington,  Josiah 

Stephenson,  Abner 

McMorran,  John 

Remington,  Nathaniel 

Stoddard,  Filo 

Meachum,  Philip 

Remington,  Rufus 

Strong,  Return 

Moor,  Arunah 

Rising,  Eli 

Moor,  Hiram 

Rising,  James 

Thistle,  Samuel 

Morris,  James 

Rising,  John 

Thwing,  Ebenezer 

Morris,  John 

Rising,  Jonah 

Tobin,  James 

Moss,  Noah 

Rising,  Josiah 

Towsley,  Amoriah 

Rising,  Nathaniel 

Towsley,  Lot 

Negro,  Cesar 

Robbins,  Elijah 

Towsley,  Micah 

Nelson,  Daniel 

Rockwood,  Josiah 

Towsley,  Michael 

Nelson,  Jeremiah 

Rowe,  Abner 

Trumbull,  Oliver 

Nelson,  Moses 

Russell,  John 

Nelson,  Philip,  Jr. 

Underwood,  Jonathan 

Newbury,  Jeremiah 

Sanderson,  Elnathan 

Newton,  Zechariah 

Sanderson,  Silvanus 

Warner,  Daniel 

Noble,  Ebenezer 

Screen,  James 

Warner,  John 

Noble,  Nathan 

Sheldon,  Asaph 

Warner,  Nathaniel 

Norton,  Daniel 

Sheldon,  David 

Warner,  Richard 

Norton,  Shadrach 

Sheldon,  Ebenezer 

Warner,  Samuel 

Norton,  Thomas 

Sheldon,  Elijah 

Watson,  Thomas 

Sheldon,  Jacob 

Wheeler,  Daniel 

Old,  Josiah 

Sheldon,  John,  Jr. 

Williston,  Consider 

Owen,  Isaac 

Sheldon,  Josiah 

Winchel,  Dan 

Sheldon,  Martin 

Winchel,  Oliver 

Palmer,  Ozias 

Sheldon,  Seth 

Woolworth,  Justus 

Parsons,  Ebenezer 

Sheldon,  Simeon 

Woolworth,  Phineas 

Parsons,  Reuben 

Sikes,  Amos 

Woolworth,  Reuben 

War  of  1812 

Bissell,  Elijah 

Dunham,  Jabez 

Marshall,  Abraham 

Brooks,  Jacob 

Dunham,  Moses 

Moulton,  Rufus 

Charles,  James 

Gaylord,  Roswell 

Olds,  Obadiah 

82 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 


Page,  Samuel  S. 
Rising,  Allen 
Sikes,  Zenas 


Hathaway,  John  M. 


Abel,  Lester  A. 
Alcorn,  Hugh  G. 
Alderman,  John 
Allen,  Franklin  H. 
Allen,  George  W. 
Allen,  William  A. 
Andrews,  Benjamin 
Anthony,  Henry 
Archer,  Luther  L. 
Austin,  Albert  R. 

Baer,  Alfred  D. 
Baker,  Francis 
Baker,  James 
Baker,  Jordan 
Baker,  Samuel 
Ball,  Charles  G. 
Barnes,  Heman  H. 
Barnett,  Henry 
Barnum,  Ezra  W. 
Bates,  Jerome  P. 
Baxter,  Henry 
Beach,  Edward 
Beebe,  Edwin  C. 
Bell,  William  E. 
Beman,  George  T. 
Bement,  Edwin  C. 
Bennett,  George 
Birney,  William  H. 
Blake,  George  H. 
Bliss,  James  M. 
Bont,  Daniel 
Borcherding,  Herman 
Bowers,  Joseph  H. 
Boye,  John  W. 
Brady,  Patrick 
Brown,  Empson 
Brown,  Thomas  A. 
Burbank,  Leverett  L. 
Burke,  Michael 
Bush,  Andrew  S. 

Carl,  George 
Carrier,  David  B. 
Carter,  George  W. 
Castin,  Chauncey  C. 
Caesar,  George  H.  H. 


Smith,  Warren 
Stafford,  Arnold 
Truesdale,  Darius 

Mexican  War 
Lewis,  James 

The  Civil  War 

Cayton,  John  W. 
Chapman,  John 
Cherdin,  Charles 
Cherry,  William  R. 
Chester,  Michael 
Clark,  Henry 
Clark,  John 
Clark,  Martin 
Clarkson,  Robert  J. 
Cline,  David 
Cline,  John  H. 
Coats,  John 
Coffey,  John 
Collins,  Francis 
Collins,  Leonard 
Collins,  Philip 
Collins,  Samuel 
Cone,  Heman  A. 
Connor,  John 
Cook,  Abraham 
Cooper,  Charles  H. 
Cooper,  James 
Corbin,  David  P. 
Corser,  Proctor 
Crane,  James  P. 
Crocker,  George  W. 
Curtis,  Luther  N. 

Dalton,  John 
Davis,  Charles  A. 
Day,  John  W. 
DeGraff,  ElSas 
Demmary,  Joseph 
Dennison,  Charles 
Dewey,  Amos 
Dixon,  William 
Dolan,  Peter 

Eastman,  Oscar  D. 
Easton,  Apollos 

Fieneman,  Gottfried 
Flynn,  Patrick 
Foale,  William  R.  P. 
Foley,  William  W. 
Fowler,  Frederick 
Francher,  Albert  L. 


Ward,  Simeon 
Weaver,  George 
Wilkinson,  Thomas 


Freeman,  William 
Fuller,  Edward  A. 

Galvin,  John 
Garrett,  James  D. 
Gerschwend,  Joseph  A. 
Gettier,  William  M. 
Gillett,  Egbert  C. 
Gillette,  James  M. 
Goodrich,  Frank  W. 
Gouthier,  Joseph 
Graham,  Arthur  H. 
Graham,  Oscar  H. 
Granger,  John  W. 
Green,  Richard 
Grimm,  Elijah 
Griswold,  Ellis  A. 
Grohman,  Peter 

Hall,  Eben  P. 
Hall,  Peter  M. 
Hancock,  William  H. 
Hanlon,  John 
Harmon,  Ashbel  C. 
Hastings,  Francis  E. 
Hawkins,  William  H. 
Hayes,  Elias  W. 
Healey,  Patrick 
Hemingway,  Daniel  E. 
Hicks,  George 
Hide,  John 
Hintz,  Henry 
Hoskins,  Joseph 

Ives,  David 
Ives,  William  C. 

Jackson,  John  L. 
Jacoby,  James 
James,  John  F. 
Jinman,  George 
Jobes,  Asbury 
Jobes,  Richard 
Johnson,  George  W. 
Jones,  Samuel 
Josephs,  John 


QUARTER 

MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD                                        83 

Kasche,  William 

Newhart,  Henry  T. 

Smith,  Oscar  L. 

Keegan,  Michael 

Newton,  Israel 

Smith,  Patrick 

Keeshand,  John 

Newton,  Matthew  T. 

Smith,  William  H. 

Kellogg,  Emerson 

Noll,  Henry  W. 

Snow,  Henry  R. 

Kellogg,  Henry  N. 

Snow,  Nelson  E. 

Kelter,  Thomas 

Olds,  Henry 

Snow,  Orlando  E. 

Kiefer,  John  Z. 
King,  Gilbert  F. 
King,  Roderick  G. 
Knight,  Ivory  P. 
Kurvin,  James 

Pease,  Wilbur  F. 
Pendlebury,  Thomas  H. 
Percy,  Earl  D. 
Perkins,  George  M. 
Pettis,  Charles  C. 

Soby,  William 
Sparks,  Richard  W. 
Spengler,  George 
Spiars,  Ira  B. 
Stepney,  Richard 

Lacey,  Henry 
Lacey,  Michael 

Phelan,  John  N. 
Phelon,  Charles  S. 

Sykes,  L.  Fayette 
Symington,  James 

Lamberton,  Sullivan  P. 

Pierce,  Dwight 

Lathrop  Benjamin  F. 

Pierce,  George  J. 

Taylor,  Albert 

Leavitt,  David  F. 

Pock,  James 

Taylor,  William  J. 

Lee,  Homer 

Pockett,  Joseph 

Thompson,  Alex.  H. 

LefRer,  Henry 

Polk,  James 

Thompson,  Isaac 

Lester,  Milton,  Jr. 

Pomeroy,  Melvin  L. 

Thorogood,  Charles 

Lester,  Silas 

Pomeroy,  William  C. 

Todd,  Samuel  D. 

Letcher,  Francis  D. 

Pomeroy,  Willis  A. 

Tootill,  Levi 

Letcher,  John  B. 

Powers,  John 

Towne,  Clinton  D. 

Lewis,  George  C. 
Lewis,  George  M. 
Lewis,  John 

Proctor,  William  H. 
Rattray,  James  P. 

Tracy,  John 
Trowbridge,  George  N. 
Turner,  George  L. 

Lipps,  George  F. 

Reeves,  William  M. 

Van  Buren,  Franklin 

Little,  Charles  L. 

Reihm,  John  P. 

Vancott,  William  H. 

Long,  George 

Relyea,  William  H. 

Vandenburgh,  Stephen 

Lord,  Roswell  C. 

Remington,  Albert  M. 

Van  Heusen,  Martin 

Ludington,  Augustine 

Rhaum,  Norman  S. 

Vanderpool,  Jacob  G. 

Riley,  Thomas 

Mackin,  Patrick 

Rising,  Charles  G. 

Walker,  Joseph 

Margerum,  Claudius  C. 
Marritt,  Jerome 

Rising,  Roland 
Roberson,  Robert 

Walter,  Ira 
Wansor,  George  A. 
Ward,  James  D. 

Marshall,  George 

Rogers,  John 

Ward,  John  D. 

Martinez,  Andrew  B. 

Rose,  Hubert  G. 

Warner,  Horace 

Mather,  William  H. 

Russell,  Emerson  E. 

Watkins,  George  W. 

McCann,  Norton  O. 

Russell,  James 

Watson,  Henry 

Mclntosh,  Alfred 

Russell,  James  B. 

Webster,  Daniel 

McKenzie,  Thomas  B. 

Wedemier,  Christian 

McLaughlin,  Pat.  C. 

Sanford,  Thomas 

Wessels,  Helmuth 

McMain,  Thomas  F. 

Scofield,  Russell  H. 

Wessels,  Louis 

McVey,  Charles 

Scollon,  Andrew 

Wessels,  Peter 

McVey,  Gardner 

Schwind,  Nicholas 

West,  Delmer 

Miller,  Frank 

Sherman,  Conrad  W. 

Whipple,  Henry 

Miller,  Herman 

Sherren,  James 

Whittle,  William  R. 

Mooney,  James 

Sherwood,  Charles 

Williams,  Charles 

Moore,  Henry 

Sherwood,  John,  Jr. 

Williams,  James 

Mosher,  Israel  P. 

Siggins,  Williams 

Wincholl,  John  L. 

Mullen,  James 

Simmons,  Francis 

Woodworth,  Chester 

Mulligan,  William 

Smalley,  James 

Woodworth,  Chester  W. 

Myers,  Henry 

Smith,  Charles  A. 

Woodworth,  James  H. 

Smith,  Charles  F. 

Woodworth,  John 

Nehin,  Daniel 

Smith,  George  B. 

Woodworth,  William  H- 

84 


QUARTER   MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 


Corrigan,  Thomas 
Evans,  Fred 
Leahey,  John 


Adams,  Edward 
Apraham,  Paul 
Austin,  William  J. 

Baranowski,  Joseph 
Bardoni,  Ettore  A. 
Beach,  Milton  A. — 

S  A  T  C 

Belfit,  Thatcher  G. 
Beloski,  Wladislaf 
Bernard,  Edward 
Binns,  Douglass 
Blackburn,  Raymond  E. 
Blonberg,  LeRoy  C. 
Brackoneski,  Joseph  F. 
Briggs,  Leroy 
Brown,  Marshall 

Cain,  William 
Caldwell,  Howard  E. 
Cannon,  Merrill  L. 
Canty,  Martin  J. 
Cavanaugh,  Francis  W. 
Cemoch,  John 
Chekanvos,  Anthony 
Conley,  John  J. 
Convery,  Harry 
Corrigan,  Edward  J. 
Coulson,  John  H. 
Coulson,  Robert,  Jr. 
Coulson,  William  A. 
Coulter,  Joseph — Y. 
Creelman,  Clifford  C. 
Creelman,  Frank  E. 
Creelman,  Fred  N. 
Creelman,  Allan  D.— Y. 
Cronon,  Eugene  J. 
Crowley,  James  J. 
Culver,  William  B. 
Cunningham,  George 

Dambrowski,  Julian 
Decelles,  Raymond  A. 
Deutsch,  William 
DeZolt,  Lewis 
*DeZolt,  Joseph  E.,  Jr. 
Dineen,  Michael 
Dunn,  John  E. 
Dupont,  William  T. 
Durgin,  Edwin 


The  War  with  Spain 

Leahey,  Michael 
Parks,  William 


The  World  War 

Dziengewski, 
Stanislaw  F. 

Eagleson,  John  A. 
Edmonds,  Charles  A. 
Evans,  Jesse  B. 
Evans,  Nathan 
Farquhar,  E.  Stuart 
Farrell,  William  P. 
Filipcank,  Andro 
Fitch,  Lester  H. 
Fitch,  Nelson  A. 
Fitzgerald,  William  W. 
Flaherty,  Edward  J. 
Fleming,  John  F. 
Fuller,  Sumner  F. 

Gallagher,  John  J. 
Gardner,  Conrad 
Goodrich,  Albert  B. 
Goodrich,  Alec 
Goodrich,  Francis 
*Graham,  Lewis  S. 
Griffin,  William 
Guindon,  William 

Halak,  Walter  W. 
Hamilton,  Clarence  E. 
Hastings,  Elliott  S. 
Hastings,  Wallace  G. 
Heckland,  Harold 
Hendee,  George  M. — Y. 
Henshaw,  Walter  R. — 

S.A.T.C. 

Heyburn,  Robert  E. 
Holcomb,  Roy  H. 
Holdridge,  Merton  L. 

Janlowitz,  Jurges 
Jones,  Howard  P. 
Jones,  Robert  S. 
Jones,  Russell  M. 
Jones,  William  P. 
Jonkowski,  John  J. 

Kearns,  Harry 
Kearns,  Wallace  G. 
Kennedy, 

Daniel  R.,  Jr.— Y 
Kennedy,  John  J.,  Jr. 


Raisbeck,  Bertie  J. 
Raisbeck,  Ralph 
Root,  Herbert 


Kulas,  Anthony  P. 
Kulas,  Frank  S. 
Kulle,  Jack  C. 
Kzizanowski,  Jan.  S. 

LaFountain,  Henry 
*Lally,  William  T. 
Lees,  Carlton  B. 
Loomis,  Herman  H. 
Loomis,  Winfield  H. 
Lyman,  Emmett  J. 

MacArthur, 

Gertrude  E.— Y 
MacArthur,  Kenneth  C. 
Magee,  Fred  J. 
Malloy,  Charles 
Mansfield,  William 
Martinez,  George  A. 
Matka,  John 
McCann,  Frank  H. 
McCann,  Warren 
McCarthy,  Leslie  J. 
McNach,  William 
Medwood,  William  R. 
Merrill,  Ralph 
Miller,  A.  Waldron 
Mitchell,  James,  Jr. 
Murphy,  John  A. 
Muzzie,  Earl 

Nelinuck,  Wasil 

O'Brien,  John 
O'Malley,  Thomas  F. 

—S.A.T.C. 
Orr,  Robert 

Papafil,  Theodore 
Parcelles,  William 
Parks,  Calvin  G. 

—S.A.T.C. 
Parks,  George  V. 
Parks,  Leroy  B. 

—S.A.T.C. 
Parks,  Murray  B. 
Patterson,  James  T. 
Phelon,  Newton  T. 
Pobalak,  Frank 
Pomroy,  Ralph  H. 


Float  of  the  Suffield  Grange 


Mapleton  Literary  Club 


yy;v    ..-. 


Float  of  the  Woman's  Reading  Club 


Float  of  the  Ladies'  Wide  Awake  Club 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 


Powers,  Henry 

Sheldon,  Walter  A. 

Thorkey,  Fred  J. 

Psaras,  Savas 

Sherman,  Roger 

Tomkelley,  Stanley 

Sholtz,  John 

Toothill,  William  H. 

*Quinn,  Thomas 

Sikes,  Allen  B. 

Trasencznia,  Alexander 

—  S.A.T.C. 

Turner,  Olin 

Reynolds,  Hugh  W. 

Smith,  William  L. 

Turner,  William  H. 

Rhaum,  Wallace  H. 

Stockwell,  William  M. 

Robertson,  Harold 

Stratton,  Morgan  C. 

Viets,  H.  Leon,  Jr. 

Russell,  Fordham  C. 

Street,  Russell  B. 

Vietts,  Seeley  H. 

Svacicki,  Maxmilian 

Saltus,  Charles 

Szredzinsky,  Telesfor 

White,  Timothy  H. 

Saunders,  Bertram 

Szvmauski,  Clifford 

Winiarski,  John 

Schmautz,  William  J. 

Wlazlo,  Michael  A. 

Scott,  Fred  J. 

Talmadge,NelsonAlcorn 

Woodford,  Clarence  F. 

Searles,  Alfred 

Thompson,  Clive  I. 

Seymour,  Henry  W. 

Thompson,  Frank 

Zera,  Felix  J. 

—  S.A.T.C. 

Zoronski,  John 

*  Died  in  service. 


In  front  of  the  Speakers'  platform,  erected  at  the  entrance 
of  the  Town  Clerk's  office,  the  members  of  the  Grand  Army 
were  given  seats,  and  drawn  up  in  line  facing  the  platform  were 
the  service  men  of  the  Great  War,  while  the  people  gathered  in 
a  large  circle  behind  and  on  either  side.  The  iO4th  Regiment 
Band  stationed  across  the  street  near  the  Soldiers'  Monument 
furnished  music  for  a  bright  and  patriotic  occasion. 

Mr.  Edward  A.  Fuller,  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War  and 
president  of  the  General  Committee  of  the  celebration,  presided 
and  spoke  impressively  of  the  patriotic  service  of  Suffield  men 
in  the  long  history  of  the  town.  Rev.  Victor  L.  Greenwood 
of  the  First  Congregational  Church  offered  prayer,  and  Mr. 
Fuller  then  introduced  Mr.  Henry  B.  Russell,  of  the  Springfield 
Union,  and  a  former  Suffield  resident.  Mr.  Russell's  address 
follows : 

We  have  been  looking  backward  through  the  mists  of  the 
years  to  the  far-off  beginnings  of  an  old  New  England  town — to 
our  own  unit  in  that  ever-broadening  national  life  which,  from 
such  beginnings,  has  become  the  greatest  material  and  moral 
force  that  civilization,  struggling  through  all  the  centuries,  has 
produced. 

As  the  Puritan  purpose  spread  outward,  up  and  down  the 
wooded  valleys,  along  the  hilltops  and -rugged  coasts,  within 
these  old  towns  fell  the  seed  from  which  our  American  democ- 
racy and  freedom  sprung;  in  them  was  the  plant  watered;  in 


86  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

them  it  grew  and  flowered,  and  from  them,  as  the  pregnant 
years  passed,  was  the  seed  carried  over  the  hills,  the  great  rivers, 
the  long  western  trails.  Thus  were  these  old  towns  the  leaven 
of  a  nation. 

That  which  is  their  story  and  glory  is  the  story  and  glory  of 
Suffield.  Our  historical  pageantry  is  the  pageantry  of  them  all. 
The  purchases  from  the  Indians,  the  home  lots,  the  commons, 
the  churches,  the  schools,  the  town-meetings — all  the  funda- 
mentals of  our  American  institutions,  in  their  origin  and  de- 
velopment, were  here  in  old  Suffield,  as  in  them  all. 

Here  in  old  Suffield,  also,  ever  beat  the  pulse  of  a  national 
life,  striving  for  a  fuller  expression,  a  firmer  federation,  a  higher 
destiny.  Not  alone  in  commerce  and  trade,  not  alone  in  religious 
and  political  intercourse  did  colonial  interests  mingle  in  a  com- 
mon cause,  that  may  have  been  impressed  with  peculiar  force 
upon  Suffield,  because  so  long  uncertain  whether  she  belonged 
to  Massachusetts  or  to  Connecticut.  Jealous  as  the  colonies 
were  of  their  independence  and  rights,  when  danger  threatened, 
when  the  general  alarm  was  sounded  by  fleet  messengers,  spur- 
ring their  steeds  over  the  turnpikes  and  through  the  settlements, 
from  them  all — 

"Then  marched  the  brave  from  rocky  steep, 
From  mountain  river,  swift  and  cold; 

The  borders  of  the  stormy  deep, 

The  vales  where  scattered  waters  sleep, 

Sent  up  the  strong  and  bold." 

They  have  their  rolls  of  honor — all  these  old  towns  in  all  the 
wars — and  no  town  has  greater  cause  for  pride  in  her  soldiers 
than  Suffield.  Their  spirit  and  patriotism  are  read  into  the 
glowing  pages  of  American  triumphs  on  land  and  sea;  and  now 
would  we  cast  their  names  in  enduring  bronze,  all  their  names 
in  the  equality  of  their  service  to  their  country,  all  their  names 
henceforth  under  the  eyes  of  those  who  enjoy  and  are  to  enjoy 
the  blessings  of  their  deeds  and  sacrifices — ourselves  and  those 
to  come  after  us. 

Do  not  suppose  it  was  to  them  as  it  is  to  us.  They  were  think- 
ing of  their  duty;  we  are  thinking  of  their  deeds.  They  saw 
their  hard  tasks  ahead  of  them;  we  look  back  upon  their  tasks 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  87 

performed.    We  walk  in  peace  where  they  fought,  where  many 
fell.    We  reap  where  they  sowed. 

"The  heroes  of  those  old  days  are  dead; 
But  their  spirit  lives  in  today's  young  men; 
And  never  in  vain  would  our  country  plead 
For  sons  that  were  ready  to  die  in  her  need." 

Did  the  treacherous  Indian  tribes  to  the  north,  often  under 
foreign  intrigue  and  leaders,  raid  the  border  towns,  or  did  the 
commonwealths  call  for  help  to  fight  out  on  this  continent  that 
long  conflict  in  which  both  the  fate  of  Europe  and  the  destiny 
of  America  were  involved,  then  out  marched  the  boys  of  Suffield. 
They  had  a  great  leader,  Captain,  afterwards  Maj.-Gen.  Phineas 
Lyman,  the  real  hero  of  the  battle  of  Lake  George,  the  first 
Suffield  citizen  to  rise  to  national  eminence.  Suffield  was  but  a 
little  settlement  then,  yet  ninety-four  of  her  sons  answered  the 
calls  of  that  intermittent  warfare,  the  burden  of  which  largely 
fell  on  these  northern  colonies  and  towns.  Of  these  ninety- 
four,  as  you  will  see,  more  than  one-half  bore  the  family  names 
of  Suffield's  early  settlers. 

Soon  after  these  wars  were  ended,  and  the  question  whether 
the  king  of  England  or  the  king  of  France  should  dominate  in 
this  part  of  the  continent  was  settled,  began  to  arise  the  greater 
question  whether  the  king  of  England  or  the  American  people 
themselves  should  dominate  here,  and  establish  for  themselves 
and  preserve  for  their  children  those  principles  of  political 
liberty  they  had  brought  here  and  nourished  in  a  hard  climate, 
on  a  stubborn  soil,  in  the  midst  of  alarms.  Then  one  day  in  the 
spring  of  1775,  clattering  over  the  stony  turnpikes,  came  mes- 
sengers telling  of  that  shot  heard  round  the  world,  the  shot  of 
the  embattled  farmers. 

"As  if  the  very  earth  again 

Grew  quick  with  God's  creating  breath; 
And  from  the  sods  of  grove  and  glen 
Rose  ranks  of  lion  hearted  men, 
To  battle  to  the  death." 

On  a  faded  pay  roll  preserved  at  Hartford  is  recorded  this: 
"Marched  from  Suffield  for  relief  of  Boston  in  the  Lexington 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 


alarm,  April,  1775,  Capt.  Elihu  Kent  and  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  men. 

Preparedness?  Yes;  that  preparedness  for  which  America 
has  become  most  famous — preparedness  to  shoulder  a  gun,  to 
fall  in,  march  forth,  at  once,  anywhere,  when  American  honor, 
or  rights,  or  liberties  or  firesides  are  at  stake.  In  that  revolu- 
tionary conflict  other  Suffield  companies  were  recruited  by 
Captains  Oliver  Hanchett,  John  Harmon,  Nathaniel  Pomeroy 
and  Samuel  Granger.  Some  of  them  had  fought  in  the  French 
and  Indian  wars,  and,  as  before,  more  than  one-half  of  them  were 
the  sons  of  the  first  and  early  settlers  of  Suffield.  The  Kings 
sent  twelve,  Grangers  eleven,  Kents  and  Sheldons  ten  each, 
Harmons  nine,  Spencers,  Sikeses  and  Pomeroys  eight  each, 
Risings  and  Austins  six  each,  Gillettes,  Hatheways,  Remingtons 
and  Warners  five  each,  and  so  on. 

By  the  time  of  the  war  of  1812  the  political  relations  of  New 
England  to  the  states  under  Virginia  leadership  had  undergone 
a  change.  In  the  tempest  of  events  the  conflicting  views  of 
Hamilton  and  Jefferson  had  developed  an  acute  partisanship. 
Embargoes  and  non-intercourse  acts  had  sorely  tried  commercial 
New  England.  It  was  hard  work  to  recruit  armies  where  the 
war  was  unpopular.  But  there  was  the  flag;  it  was  the  govern- 
ment, struggling  under  its  new  constitution,  that  called,  and 
Suffield  did  not  fail  to  respond.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  the 
war,  it  had  its  part  in  shaping  the  national  destiny.  There  were 
brave  deeds  by  land  and  braver  by  sea,  and  Suffield  has  her 
honor  roll.  If  their  names  are  fewer,  the  greater  is  their  share 
in  the  triumph  of  that  period. 

The  short  Mexican  war  was  even  more  unpopular  in  the  North, 
unfavorably  shaping,  as  it  seemed  then,  the  conditions  of  that 
inevitable  conflict  yet  to  be  fought.  It  was  largely  the  regular 
armies  that  marched  and  fought  with  Taylor  and  Scott,  but 
Suffield  has  her  honor  roll  in  a  war,  that,  despite  its  failure  to 
appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  the  whole  nation,  nevertheless  un- 
locked the  gates  to  the  manifest  destiny  of  a  great  republic,  to 
march  on  to  the  Rio  Grande  and  the  Pacific. 

Then,  speedily  as  the  troubled  years  passed,  the  nation  drifted 
to  that  great  civil  conflict.  Not  under  any  new  or  strange  banner 
of  secession,  but  under  the  same  old  flag  that  was  born  in  the 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  89 

struggle  for  independence,  that  waved  over  the  victorious  armies 
of  Washington  at  Yorktown,  that  fluttered  from  the  topmasts 
of  the  fighting  frigates  of  1812,  that  was  borne  aloft  at  Buena 
Vista  and  Palo  Alto,  went  forth  two  hundred  and  eighty-six 
Suffield  boys  to  the  hard  battles  of  that  struggle  that  fired  the 
national  heart  and  fixed  the  indivisibility  of  the  Union.  It 
purged  the  soil  of  slavery  and  determined  a  larger  destiny  in 
the  centuries  to  unfold. 

A  few — a  very  few — of  that  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  are 
still  with  us,  the  story  of  that  great  passion  of  liberty  and  union 
burned  into  their  souls.  To  most  of  us  it  is  history;  to  all  of  us 
a  glorious  history  wherein  the  wounds  are  healed  and  the  scars 
have  faded  into  the  cherished  tokens  of  a  united  people.  These 
names  in  bronze  shall  ever  tell  the  story  of  Suffield's  devotion 
to  a  land  "where  live  the  free,  where  sleep  the  brave." 

Our  war  with  Spain  was  brief,  as  it  was  victorious,  fought 
largely  by  regulars  and  militia,  but  Suffield  was  not  missing. 
She  had  her  volunteers,  she  has  her  honor  roll  in  that  cause  of 
freedom's  further  development  on  this  hemisphere. 

Then,  last  and  nearest  to  the  thoughts  and  emotions  of  this 
generation,  is  the  long  roll  of  Suffield  boys  of  the  great  war,  in 
which  not  only  the  honor,  the  safety  and  liberties  of  America, 
but  the  world's  civilization  and  peace,  were  at  stake.  The  boys 
who  have  come  back  to  us  from  service  in  France,  on  the  seas 
and  in  the  far  camps  need  not  be  told  what  it  meant.  Fathers 
and  mothers,  wives  and  sweethearts  need  not  be  told  what  it 
meant  to  them.  It  is  enough  for  the  present  to  know  that  it 
was  a  great  cause  and  a  great  victory,  greater  than  the  world 
can  yet  know. 

The  question  of  what  it  meant  is  passing  into  the  question  of 
what  it  can  be  made  to  mean.  History  has  been  made,  but  is 
still  in  the  making.  We  are  still  beset  with  problems  it  has  left. 
Terrible  wounds  have  yet  to  be  healed;  scars  there  are  that  can 
disappear  only  with  the  years.  American  destiny,  the  American 
relation  to  the  cause  of  political  liberty  and  human  progress 
elsewhere,  civilization  the  world  over,  have  yet  to  clear  a  path 
into  the  future. 

But  it  will  be  cleared.  The  boys  on  that  long  honor  roll  did 
not  go  forth  in  vain.  In  any  event,  their  deeds  are  secure.  It 


9O  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

was  the  American  flag,  waving  over  them  in  Flanders,  in  Picardy, 
in  the  Argonne  and  on  the  Marne  that  rallied  the  fainting 
hearts  of  the  exhausted  defenders  of  their  homes  and  their 
freedom,  that  was  the  symbol  of  hope  for  millions  of  war-worn 
and  war-torn  people — the  flag  that  was  carried  over  those  hard 
final  battles  to  victory. 

So  here,  in  the  civic  center  of  this  fairest  of  old  New  England 
towns,  near  the  close  of  our  celebration  of  two  and  one-half 
centuries  of  its  history,  we  take  this  occasion  to  cast  in  letters 
time  shall  neither  diminish  nor  destroy,  the  names  of  all  these 
SufHeld  men  of  all  these  years  in  all  these  American  struggles 
for  a  great  nation,  a  free  people  and  a  better  world.  We  honor 
the  living  and  the  dead  alike,  in  every  service  on  land  and  sea. 
Here  do  we  dedicate  an  unfading  tribute  to  the  soldiers  and 
sailors  of  Suffield;  to  their  sacrifice  for 

"That  Flag  that  never  stooped  from  victory's  pride; 
Those  stars  that  softly  gleam, 
Those  stripes  that  o'er  us  stream, 
In  war's  grand  agony  were  sanctified. 

At  noon  the  officers  and  selectmen  of  the  town  gave  a  dinner 
to  all  the  war  veterans  of  Suffield  in  the  gymnasium  of  the 
Suffield  school.  Other  visitors,  as  on  the  two  days  previous, 
gathered  on  the  green  with  their  box  lunches,  or  enjoyed  the 
hospitality  of  the  homes  of  Suffield. 

The  program  of  the  third  day  was  closed  in  the  afternoon  with 
a  football  game  on  the  Suffield  School  athletic  field,  attended 
by  about  a  thousand  people.  The  iO4th  Regiment  band  gave  a 
concert  on  the  field  before  the  game,  which  was  between  the 
Suffield  School  team,  and  one  from  the  Springfield  College. 
The  local  team,  which  played  no  losing  game  during  the  whole 
season,  won  by  a  score  of  28  to  o. 

The  celebration  of  the  25Oth  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of 
Suffield  was  one  leaving  only  pleasant  memories  for  its  people 
and  their  guests.  It  enlisted  the  co-operation  of  the  townspeople 
generally  and  to  this  co-operation  and  the  faithful  work  of  the 
various  committees  its  success  was  due. 

Suffield  now  passes  on  toward  another  half-century  milestone 
in  its  history,  to  be  reached  only  in  the  life  of  another  generation. 


THE  HOSTESS  HOUSE 


An  Old  Fashion  Home  on  an  Old  Fashion  Street 
with  Old  Fashion  Ladies  as  Hostesses 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  popular  features  of  the  cele- 
bration was  the  Hostess  House,  its  quaint  rooms  furnished  with 
rare  and  beautiful  old  furniture,  containing  many  specimens  of 
the  handiwork  of  departed  generations,  and  presided  over  as 
hostesses  during  the  three  days  of  the  anniversary  by  Suffield 
ladies  in  gowns  of  the  olden  days. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  the  Masonic  Club,  the  lower  floor 
of  the  Masonic  House  was  turned  over  to  a  committee  of  ladies, 
under  the  chairmanship  of  Mrs.  Edward  A.  Fuller,  to  be  fur- 
nished like  a  home  of  long  ago.  "Raised"  by  Luther  Loomis 
in  1790,  and  to  the  older  residents  of  the  town  long  known  as 
the  home  of  the  late  William  L.  Loomis,  the  old  mansion  has 
been  kept  in  good  condition  as  a  fine  example  of  the  archi- 
tecture of  its  period.  The  hand-wrought  paneling  and  other 
distinctive  features  were  retained  when  recently  the  house  was 
refitted  for  the  Masonic  Club,  and  one  of  these  much  admired 
features  is  the  oriel  window  on  the  south  side.  Altogether  it 
made  an  ideal  setting  for  the  hostesses  and  their  loaned  heir- 
looms. Open  from  9  A.  M.  to  9  p.  M.  on  the  three  days,  and 
easily  accessible,  it  was  much  visited  by  Suffield  people  and 
their  many  guests. 

The  spacious  lower  hall  and  four  large  rooms  were  given  over 
to  the  hostesses,  and  the  work  of  furnishing  these  rooms  with 
the  best  examples  of  fine  homes  of  a  century  or  more  ago  was 
placed  under  the  supervision  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Karl  C.  Kulle, 
of  Suffield,  peculiarly  qualified  by  their  knowledge  of  values  in 
antiques,  and,  with  their  committee,  they  made  careful  exami- 
nation and  selection  of  the  types  and  specimens  suited  to  the 
consistent  furnishing  of  the  various  rooms  and  with  highly  suc- 
cessful results. 

The  quaint  and  pleasing  atmosphere  that  was  thus  imparted 


92  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

to  the  rooms  was  thoroughly  enjoyed  by  all  visitors  and,  if  it 
cannot  be  adequately  described,  it  can  be  imagined  from  the 
list  of  the  furnishings  here  given,  with  the  names  of  those  to 
whom  they  originally  belonged  in  most  cases,  and  the  names 
of  those  loaning  them  for  the  exhibition. 

THE  HALL 

HIGHBOY.  High  chest  of  drawers,  Spanish  feet,  1710-20. 
Belonged  to  the  Hezekiah  Spencer  family  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chas.  L.  Spencer. 

TALL  CLOCK.  Made  in  Suffield  in  1794  by  Simeon  Smith  of 
Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Edwin  A.  Pomeroy 

PINE  SETTLE.  First  half  of  the  i8th  century.  Belonged  to 
Daniel  Norton,  of  Suffield,  who  fought  in  the  Revolutionary 
War. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Seymour  Loomis  and  Mr.  John  Norton. 

TABLE.  Drop  leaves,  turned  frame,  last  quarter  of  the  I7th 
century.  Belonged  probably  to  Asahel  Hatheway  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  D.  N.  Carrington. 

CHAIR.  Cane  chair,  Spanish  feet,  1700-10.  Belonged  to  the 
Halladay  family  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Marjorie  Halladay. 

CANDLESTICKS.  With  grease  dish.  Belonged  to  Oliver 
Granger  of  West  Suffield,  Taintor  Hill, 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Samuel  R.  Spencer. 

HERALDIC  BLAZONS.  Printed  fabric,  1768.  Came  from  the 
Blackbourne  collection  (mostly  laces),  part  of  which  is  now  in 
the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  New  York. 

Loaned  by  Karl  C.  Kulle. 

PORTRAIT.  Don  Pease  (1795-1868),  painted  at  the  age  of 
thirty  years. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  E.  A.  Fuller. 

CHAIRS.  Two  chairs  showing  Dutch  influence,  1710-20. 
Belonged  to  Joseph  Pease  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Dr.  Harold  M.  Brown. 

Banister-Back  chair,  1730-40.  From  the  Dr.  Horace  S. 
Fuller  collection. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  C.  F.  Sutton. 

RUGS.     Loaned  by  Mrs.  Chas.  R.  Latham. 

BEDROOM 

FIELD  BEDSTEAD.  Empire  style  of  1800-20.  Originally  be- 
longed to  Mrs.  Eliza  H.  Phelps,  of  West  Townshend,  Vt.,  who 


Float  of  the  Polish  People 


Suffield  Firemen  Drawing  the  Old  Hand  Pump 


West  Suffield  School  Children  in  Parade 


The  Town  Hall  Decorated  for  the  Celebration 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  93 

probably  had  it  when  she  was  married  in  1814.  The  bed  has 
its  original  hangings. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Eliza  S.  P.  Pierce. 

BEDSPREAD.  Woven  and  embroidered  by  Paulina  Harmon 
(about  1791-1866),  who  made  it  before  her  marriage. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  George  A.  Harmon. 

TRUNDLE  BED.  Trundle,  or  truckle  beds  were  made  as 
early  as  1650.  Has  belonged  to  the  Fuller  family  for  over 
70  years. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Fuller. 

CRADLE.  About  1820.  Belonged  to  Dr.  Asaph  Bissell  of 
Suffield.  Quilt  made  by  Mrs.  Deming  in  1860. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Charles  S.  Bissell. 

TRIPOD  TABLE.  Walnut,  about  1750.  Formerly  belonged  to 
Francis  Nichols  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Charles  R.  Latham. 

GLASS  CANDLESTICK.  Probably  the  first  half  of  the  i8th 
century.  Came  from  the  George  Mather  place  in  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  George  A.  Harmon. 

LOWBOY  DRESSING  TABLE.  1710—20.  Property  of  the 
Latham  family  for  over  one  hundred  years. 

Loaned  by  Charles  R.  Latham. 

MIRROR  FRAME.  Last  quarter  of  the  i8th  century.  Found 
in  the  attic  of  the  George  Mather  house  in  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Karl  C.  Kulle. 

CORNER  WASHSTAND.  Heppelwhite  style,  1790-1800.  Prob- 
ably belonged  to  Asahel  Hathaway  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Charles  C.  Bissell. 

PITCHER  AND  BASIN.  "Gaudy  painted  ware."  Originally 
from  the  Alfred  Owen  family  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Alena  F.  Owen. 

WTRITING  TABLE.  Sheraton  style,  about  1800.  Originally 
belonged  to  Dr.  Oliver  Pease  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Edward  A.  Fuller. 

CHEST  OF  DRAWERS.  About  1800.  Belonged  to  Dr.  Oliver 
Pease  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Edward  A.  Fuller. 

MIRROR.  Dressing  glass.  About  1790.  Belonged  to  Dr. 
Oliver  Pease  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Edward  A.  Fuller. 

BUREAU.  Probably  1750  or  earlier.  Belonged  to  the  Halla- 
day  family  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Clara  H.  Phelps. 

MIRROR.  Mentioned  in  an  old  inventory  of  the  Isaac  Owen 
estate  in  1756. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Alena  F.  Owen. 


94  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

CLOCK.  Mantel  type,  1820-30.  Belonged  to  Chauncey  Pome- 
roy  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Charles  C.  Bissell. 

BEDSPREAD.  Blue  and  white;  hand  woven  in  Strassburg, 
France,  about  1800.  Brought  to  this  country  in  1840  by  Harriet 
Huntsinger. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Charles  S.  Fuller. 

BEDSPREAD.  Home  spun  and  hand  woven  in  1720  in  Ver- 
mont. Stamped  and  worked  by  an  invalid.  Taken  by  horse- 
back to  Conway,  Mass.,  the  only  way  of  travel  before  roads 
were  laid  out. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  C.  D.  Ives  of  Conway,  Mass. 

GLASS  LAMP.  Probably  late  i8th  century.  Belonged  to 
Mrs.  Calvin  Priilio  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Seymour  Loomis  and  Mr.  John  Norton. 
SHEFFIELD  CANDLESTICKS.     Came  from  the  Martin  Rockwell 
(1778-1834)  family,  South  Windsor,  Conn. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Laura  Southergill. 

CHAIR.  Comb-back  rocker,  about  1800.  Bought  at  auction 
at  Mrs.  Simon  Kendall's  place,  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dwight  Fuller. 

BEDSIDE  TABLE.     1 800-10.      Sheraton   style.      Belonged   to 
Jennett  Barnard  Owen  of  West  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Amos  B.  and  John  Crane. 

TRIPOD  TABLE.  Large  top,  first  quarter  of  the  i8th  cen- 
tury. Belonged  to  Rev.  Ebenezer  Devotion,  one  of  the  early 
pastors  of  the1  Congregational  Church  in  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Dr.  Harold  M.  Brown. 

EASY  CHAIR.  Last  quarter  of  the  i8th  century.  Belonged 
to  Asahel  Hatheway  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  D.  N.  Carrington. 

ARM  CHAIR.  Dutch  style  about  1725.  Belonged  to  the 
Leavitt  family  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Chas.  C.  Bissell. 

ROCKER.  Four  slats  in  back,  about  1750.  Belonged  to  the 
Halladay  family  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Marjorie  Halladay. 

CHAIR.  Chippendale  style,  third  quarter  of  the  i8th  century. 
Belonged  to  Andrew  Clark,  who  came  from  Great  Barrington  to 
Suffield  forty  years  ago. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Antoinette  Clark. 

CHAIR.     Sheraton  style,  1790-1800.    Original  seat  covering. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Philip  Schwartz. 

EMBROIDERED  PICTURE.     From  the  Halladay  family. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Marjorie  Halladay. 
SAMPLER  AND  SILHOUETTE.     Samples  made  by  Hannah  Spooner 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  95 

Cooper  in  1785,  aged  10  years.  Silhouette  of  Hannah  Spooner 
Cooper. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  William  Cooper. 

WILLOW  PICTURE.  1818.  Belonged  to  Abigail  Johnson  of 
Lebanon,  Conn. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  P.  W.  Street. 

PRINT.  "Morning  Prayer."  Belonged  to  Mary  Anne  Corey 
Clark,  of  Washington  Mountain,  Massachusetts,  who  brought 
it  to  Suffield  64  years  ago. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Antoinette  Clark. 

WORK  BASKET.  Belonged  to  Mary  King  Fuller,  who  was 
married  in  1796. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  C.  F.  Sutton. 

BIBLE.     Joseph  Fuller  family  Bible,  1796. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  C.  F.  Sutton. 

TABLE  COVER.  Embroidered  in  wool  by  Mary  Bulkley  of 
Rocky  Hill. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  C.  F.  Sutton. 

RUGS.  Loaned  by  Mrs.  Chas.  R.  Latham  and  Mrs.  William 
Clement. 

LIVING  ROOM 

TRIPOD  TABLE.  Tip  table,  about  1800.  Belonged  to  Dr.  J. 
K.  Spelman  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Dr.  Harold  K.  Brown. 

SOFA.  Sheraton  style,  about  1800.  From  the  Dr.  Horace  S. 
Fuller  collection. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Caroline  F.  Sutton. 

CARD  TABLE.  Sheraton  style,  half  round,  1790-1800.  For- 
merly belonged  to  Fannie  L.  Crane  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Amos  B.  and  John  Crane. 

SLANT  TOP  SCRUTOIRE.  1740-50.  "The  use  of  this  low  frame 
with  bandy  legs  seems  to  have  been  popular  principally  in  Con- 
necticut."— Lockwood.  Belonged  to  Phineas  Sheldon  of  West 
Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Karl  C.  Kulle. 

TEA  TABLE.  Rectangular  top  with  raised  edges;  candle 
slides.  Probably  the  last  quarter  of  the  i8th  century. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Emma  Newton. 

PEMBROKE  TABLE.  Hepplewhite  style,  last  quarter  of  the 
1 8th  century.  Came  from  Remington  family  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chas.  S.  Fuller. 

TRIPOD  TABLE.    Raised  edge,  square  top,  1780-90. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Samuel  R.  Spencer. 


96  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

BANJO  CLOCK.  Willard,  about  1800.  From  the  Alfred  Owen 
family  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Alena  F.  Owen. 

CHAIRS.  Windsor  arm  chair,  third  quarter  of  the  i8th  cen- 
tury. From  the  Gay  Mansion,  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Chas.  C.  Bissell. 

Windsor  rocker,  last  quarter  of  the  i8th  century.  Belonged 
to  the  Gideon  Granger  family  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  L.  P.  Bissell. 

Two  chairs  in  the  Dutch  style,  1710-30. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chas.  L.  Spencer. 

Arm  chair  in  Chippendale  style,  third  quarter  of  the  i8th 
century.  Belonged  to  the  Allen  Rising  family  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Samuel  R.  Spencer. 

Chair  in  Chippendale  style,  third  quarter  of  the  i8th  century. 

Loaned  by  Karl  C.  Kulle. 

Roundabout  chair,  1720-30.  Belonged  to  Amos  S.  Crane  of 
Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Amos  B.  and  John  Crane. 

Easy  chair,  about  1800.  Belonged  to  Dr.  Oliver  Pease  of 
Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Edward  A.  Fuller. 

Ladder  back  chair,  1770-80.  From  the  Dr.  Horace  S.  Fuller 
collection. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  C.  F.  Sutton. 

Chair  in  Chippendale  style,  third  quarter  of  the  i8th  century. 
From  the  Dr.  Horace  S.  Fuller  collection. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  C.  F.  Sutton. 

PICTURE.  Congregational  Church  of  Suffield,  which  stood 
from  1838-1868. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Fannie  Mather. 

PICTURE.  "Consultation  of  the  Doctors."  1760.  Belonged 
to  Dr.  Oliver  Pease  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  E.  A.  Fuller. 

PICTURE.    Engraving,  "Washington's  Younger  Days." 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Spencer. 

CANDLESTICKS.  Pair,  yellow  glass.  Belonged  to  Mrs.  Henry 
Wright  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dwight  Fuller. 

Pair,  Brass.    Belonged  to  Hezekiah  Spencer  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Alfred  Spencer. 

Single,  Brass.    Belonged  to  Fannie  L.  Crane  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Amos  B.  and  John  Crane. 

SAMPLER.    1823.    Worked  by  mother  of  the  late  Arthur  Sikes. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Arthur  Sikes. 


The  Hostess  House  with  a  Group  of  Hostesses  in  Front 


An  Interior  of  the  Hostess  House 


Specimen  Indian  Relics  found  near  Lake  Congamond 


I 


The  Old  Boston  Neck  Mill  Dam 

Probably  constructed  about  1687  by  Major  Pynchon 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  97 

LAMP.  Brass  body,  glass  globe  with  prisms.  Belonged  to 
Adeline  Fuller  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chas.  S.  Fuller. 

INK  POT.  Belonged  to  Alfred  Spencer,  of  Suffield,  who  lived 
prior  to  1837. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Samuel  R.  Spencer. 

MIRROR.     Cutwork  frame,  decorated  with  pheasant  wings 

overt.  About  1780-90.  Belonged  to  Asahel  Hatheway  of 
Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  D.  D.  Carrington. 

PORTRAITS.  Hezekiah  Spencer  (1795-1873)  and  Cecelia 
Spencer  (1806-1889)  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  C.  Luther  Spencer. 

SILHOUETTE.  Seth  Pease  of  Suffield  (1764-1819),  Assistant 
Postmaster-General  during  Jefferson  and  Madison  administra- 
tions. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Seymour  Loomis  and  Mr.  John  Norton. 

FAMILY  RECORD.     Owen  record  and  silhouettes. 

Loaned  by  Amos  B.  and  John  Crane. 

TURNED  COUCH.  Or  stretcher,  Dutch  style,  1710-20.  Be- 
longed to  Josiah  King,  Jr.,  of  Suffield  in  1762. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Harriet  W.  Strpng. 

VASES.    Parian  marble.    Belonged  to  the  Joseph  Fuller  family. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  C.  F.  Sutton. 

Fancy  vase  from  the  Dr.  Horace  S.  Fuller  collection. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  C.  F.  Sutton. 

Bohemian  Glass  vase.  Belonged  to  the  Kendall  family  of 
Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Edmund  Halladay. 

GIRANDOLES.  About  1820.  Formerly  belonged  to  Parkes 
Loomis  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  L.  P.  Bissell. 

FOOTSTOOL.    Belonged  to  Horace  Granger  of  West  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Samuel  R.  Spencer. 

FOOT  WARMER.  Belonged  to  Mindwell  Pease  Norton  of 
Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Seymour  Loomis  and  Mr.  John  Norton. 

ANDIRONS.     Belonged  to  Dr.  J.  K.  Spellman  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Clement  Mather. 

WARMING  PAN,  SHOVEL  AND  TONGS.     Brass. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chas.  S.  Fuller. 

FIRE  FENDER.     Brass,  with  lion  feet. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chas.  L.  Spencer. 

CARPET.     Brussels  carpets  were  made  as  early  as  the  middle 


98  QUARTER   MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

of  the  1 8th  century  at  Wilton,  England.     This  carpet  is  over 
one  hundred  years  old. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Hobart  Truesdell. 

DINING  ROOM 

SIDEBOARD.  Hepplewhite  style,  1790-1800.  One  of  a  pair 
which  belonged  to  Ebenezer  King,  Jr.,  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Alfred  Spencer. 

CONSOLE  TABLE.  Hepplewhite  style,  1790-1800.  One  of  a 
pair  which  belonged  to  Ebenezer  King,  Jr.,  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Alfred  Spencer. 

DINING  TABLE.  Drop  leaves,  Dutch  legs,  second  quarter  of 
the  1 8th  century.  Probably  belonged  to  Lieut.  Thomas  Spencer 
of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Alfred  Spencer. 

TRIPOD  TABLE.  Third  quarter  of  the  i8th  century.  For- 
merly belonged  to  Hezekiah  Spencer  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Alfred  Spencer. 

HIGHBOY.     1725-50.    Scroll-top,  with  spiral  flame  finials. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Philip  Schwartz. 

CHAIRS.  Four  chairs,  showing  Dutch  influence,  1710-20. 
Originally  belonged  to  Consider  Williston  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  E.  A.  Fuller. 

Two  chairs,  showing  Dutch  influence,  1710-20.  Originally 
belonged  to  the  Oliver  Sheldon  family  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Donald  North  of  Howard,  Rhode  Island,  and 
Miss  Alena  F.  Owen. 

TEA  TABLE.  Walnut,  about  1725.  Raised  edge  and  candle 
slides.  From  the  Gay  Mansion,  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  John  M.  Holcombe  of  Hartford. 

SHEFFIELD  PLATE  TEAPOT.  Belonged  to  Thompson  Grant 
of  Enfield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chas.  S.  Fuller. 

SHEFFIELD  PLATE  CANDLESTICKS,  SNUFFER  AND  TRAY.  For- 
merly belonged  to  Thaddeus  Granger,  East  St.,  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  E.  A.  Fuller. 

EARLY  GLASS  DECANTER.  Belonged  to  Frances  Olcott 
Mather  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Fannie  Mather. 

EARLY  GLASS  DECANTER.     From  the  Latham  family. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Chas.  R.  Latham. 

ENGLISH  CUT  GLASS  DECANTER.    From  the  Latham  family. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Chas.  R.  Latham. 

LOWEST  OFT  TEAPOT,  CUP  AND  SAUCER.  From  the  Latham 
family. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  Chas.  R.  Latham. 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  99 

LOWESTOFT  TEAPOT,  CUP  AND  SAUCER.  From  the  Dr.  Horace 
S.  Fuller  collection. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  C.  F.  Sutton. 

STAFFORDSHIRE  TEAPOT.  From  the  Alfred  Owen  family  of 
Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Alena  F.  Owen. 

"OLD  BLUE"  PUNCH  BOWL.  About  200  years  old.  Wedding 
gift  of  Anne  Hathaway,  wife  of  Theodore  King,  great  grand- 
father of  the  present  owner. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  O.  R.  Bugbee. 

GLASS  BREAD  PLATE.  Formerly  belonged  to  Paul  Sykes, 
who  lived  prior  to  1798. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Arthur  Sikes. 

STAFFORDSHIRE  PLATTER  AND  VEGETABLE  DISHES.  Belonged 
to  Dr.  Oliver  Pease  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  E.  A.  Fuller. 

STAFFORDSHIRE  PLATES.  Two  Clewes  plates  and  one  Enoch 
Wood  plate  from  the  Dr.  Horace  S.  Fuller  collection. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  C.  F.  Sutton. 

PEWTER  PORRINGERS.    Belonged  to  Joseph  Fuller  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  C.  F.  Sutton. 

STAFFORDSHIRE  PITCHER.  Belonged  to  the  Kendall  family 
of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Fordham  Russell. 

"OLD  BLUE"  SUGAR  BOWL.  Belonged  to  the  Kendall  family 
of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Marjorie  Halladay. 

PICTURES.    Print  "  Mount  Vernon  "  from  the  Halladay  family. 

Loaned  by  Miss  Marjorie  Halladay. 

Print  "Washington  Greeting  Lafayette."  Belonged  to  Chaun- 
cey  Pomeroy  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Chas.  C.  Bissell. 

Print  "Battle  of  Lexington."  Belonged  to  Hezekiah  Spencer 
of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chas.  L.  Spencer. 

MIRROR.  "Constitution"  style,  about  1790.  Belonged  to 
Mary  Hastings  Kent  of  Suffield. 

Loaned  by  Dr.  Harold  M.  Brown. 

RUG. 

Loaned  by  Mrs.  Chas.  R.  Latham. 

The  fourth  room  was  in  charge  of  Sibbil  Dwight  Kent  Chap- 
ter, Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  Mrs.  David  W. 
Goodale,  Regent,  chairman;  and  was  used  for  an  exhibition  of  old 
china,  embroideries,  samplers,  funeral  wreaths,  and  miscella- 
neous articles  of  old  time  handiwork  and  interest;  and,  in  addi- 


IOO  QUARTER   MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

tion,  beautiful  handicraft,  the  work  of  our  foreign  sisters.  The 
things  in  this  room  were  not  catalogued  but  listed  260  different 
objects.  The  Daughters  assisting  in  this  room  were  dressed  in 
grey  gowns,  with  cap  kerchief  and  cuffs,  making  the  picturesque 
appearance  of  the  Pilgrim.  Mrs.  Philo  W.  Street  was  in  charge 
of  the  two  cases  of  rare  old  china,  all  of  which  had  been  used 
in  the  homes  of  Suffield,  and  handed  down  from  one  generation 
to  another  as  heirlooms.  Many  pieces  were  included  in  the 
wedding  outfits  of  the  women  of  several  generations  ago. 

Mrs.  Albert  R.  Pierce  was  in  charge  of  the  large  case  of 
exquisite  embroideries  and  needlework;  without  doubt  the  most 
valuable  collection  in  the  room.  Many  of  these  fine  pieces  were 
loaned  by  the  descendants  of  the  most  prominent  families  who 
were  active  in  town  affairs  a  century  and  more  ago.  They  came 
from  Boston  and  New  York  and  even  from  as  far  away  as  Cali- 
fornia, the  senders  all  showing  the  deepest  interest  in  the  "old 
home  town."  One  fine  embroidered  bridal  dress  belonging  to 
one  of  the  "Parson  Gay"  family  was  a  marvel  of  intricate 
needlework;  and  this  was  only  one  of  the  more  than  one  hundred 
pieces  in  the  case.  The  wonder  to  this  generation  is  how  they 
could  set  all  these  beautifully  exact  stitches  with  only  a  tallow 
dip  as  illuminating  power. 

Mrs.  John  L.  Ingraham  was  the  custodian  of  the  miscellane- 
ous case  which  was  filled  with  all  manner  of  beautiful  and  his- 
toric articles,  such  as  the  compass  by  which  the  Town  of  Suf- 
field was  laid  out  250  years  ago;  and  the  beautiful  old  com- 
munion set  of  solid  silver  owned  by  the  First  Church  of  Christ 
of  Suffield,  and  used  until  some  twelve  years  ago.  There  were 
silver  spoons  made  from  the  shoe  buckles  of  Jonathan  Edwards, 
the  eminent  divine.  Several  quaint  dolls  and  strange  toys  in  a 
good  state  of  preservation  were  objects  of  interest.  The  voting 
list  of  1834,  and  an  autograph  letter  from  Gideon  Granger, 
Postmaster-General,  written  to  Oliver  Pease,  town  clerk  of 
Suffield,  attracted  much  notice.  A  number  of  very  old  books, 
both  interesting  and  valuable,  were  in  this  collection,  among 
them  being  a  New  England  primer.  Silhouettes  of  by-gone 
people  of  note  gave  a  good  idea  of  the  features,  if  not  the 
expression,  on  the  faces. 

The  wall  space  and  foreign  work  was  cared  for  by  Mrs.  D.  W. 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL  SUFFFIELD  IOI 

Goodale.  Here  were  displayed  many  samplers,  funeral  wreaths, 
lustre  work,  hairwork,  and  memorial  pictures;  all  showing  the 
beginnings  of  artistic  taste,  and  in  the  main,  work  of  youthful 
fingers.  One  elaborate  bedspread  was  knitted  by  a  child  of 
nine  years.  The  musket  carried  by  Elihu  Kent,  the  husband  of 
Sibbil  Dwight  Kent,  the  Patron  Saint  of  the  local  chapter  of 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  carried  by  him  on  the 
march  to  Lexington,  was  on  exhibition,  as  well  as  one  carried  in 
the  war  of  1812,  and  another  during  the  Civil  War.  One  object 
attracting  universal  attention  was  the  first  Post  Office  of  Suf- 
field.  A  wooden  box  about  twenty  inches  high  and  long,  by  a 
little  less  in  depth,  and  containing  twelve  boxes  was  all  that  was 
needed  at  first  for  the  distribution  of  the  mail  of  Suffield  people. 
Another  object  of  interest  was  the  "ungodly  fiddle"  that  was 
used  to  lead  the  singing  of  the  congregation  of  the  Zion  Hill 
Church  in  its  very  early  days. 

The  Foreign  Work  was  a  great  addition  to  this  room  and, 
while  not  strictly  old,  they  were  all  fine  specimens  of  handwork. 
One  case  was  given  to  them  as  well  as  a  large  place  on  the  wall. 
Curious  and  intricate  stitches  were  shown  in  crochet  and  needle- 
work, in  bright  colored  flowers  and  sofa  pillows.  A  large  bed- 
spread in  fine  crochet,  all  in  one  piece,  was  a  beautiful  exhibition 
of  patient  work.  Another  large  blanket  of  wonderful  weaving 
of  red  a,nd  blue  wool  brought  from  Poland  was  beautiful  in 
design  and  texture. 

A  large  painting  by  Willis  Adams,  Suffield's  noted  artist,  of 
one  of  the  beautiful  views  on  the  Connecticut  near  his  home 
on  East  Street  was  on  one  of  the  walls  of  this  room;  another 
was  a  quaint  picture  of  the  old  ferry  boat  so  long  used  at  the 
Douglass  Ferry. 

Exhibition  of  Indian  Relics 

The  exhibition  of  Indian  relics,  selected  from  the  large  col- 
lection of  Mr.  Henry  A.  Miller  of  Suffield,  was  a  feature  at- 
tracting many  interested  visitors  during  the  celebration.  This 
collection  of  nearly  4000  perfect  specimens  has  been  found 
mainlynear  the  Miller  homestead  on  the  east  shore  of  Congamond 
Lakes  or  nearby.  This  was  evidently  a  favorite  place  for  the 
old  tribes  in  the  days  before  the  white  men.  The  interlacing 


IO2  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

branches  of  the  great  pine  trees  formed  a  thick  tent  protecting 
them  from  the  cold  of  winter  and  the  heat  of  summer.  A  warm 
sandy  soil  free  from  brush  and  carpeted  with  pine  needles  made 
a  comfortable  place  for  the  wigwams,  and  the  fish  and  game 
furnished  abundant  sustenance.  History  tells  little  of  the  tribes, 
but  the  evidence  is  that  Indians  went  there  from  the  Agawams  on 
the  east,  from  the  Pequots  on  the  south  and  probably  from  the 
Mohawks  on  the  west  and  north. 

Among  the  many  specimens  found  and  examples  of  which  were 
exhibited  were  hard  stone  mortars  with  pestles  for  pounding  and 
grinding  corn,  soapstone  pots  for  boiling  corn,  fish  and  other 
food,  spear  points,  arrows  and  spear  heads,  axes,  hatchets, 
tomahawks,  chisels,  gouges,  celts  for  skinning  and  tanning 
hides,  and  stones  for  polishing  them.  Such  formed  the  chief 
instruments  for  domestic  life,  for  industry  and  for  war.  Among 
other  articles  were  pipes,  firestones,  banner  stones,  love  tokens, 
paint  pots,  charms,  ear  and  nose  ornaments,  scalping  knives 
and  record  stones  with  a  notch  for  every  scalp. 


From  Suffield  Sons  and  Daughters 


Letters  regretting  inability  to  attend  the  celebration  were  re- 
ceived by  the  Invitation  Committee  from  several  sons  and 
daughters  of  Suffield  or  descendants  of  old  Suffield  families  and 
the  following  expressions  have  been  culled  from  responses: 

From  Mr.  Judson  Harmon,  former  Governor  of  Ohio  and  a 
member  of  President  Cleveland's  cabinet. 

"I  thank  you  for  the  invitation  to  the  Suffield  anniversary 
and  am  very  sorry  I  shall  be  unable  to  attend.  I  have  the  volume 
issued  on  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  fifty  years  ago,  and  a 
few  years  later  made  a  visit  to  Suffield  where  my  grandfather, 
David  Harmon,  was  born.  I  was  entertained  by  one  of  my  dis- 
tant kinsmen,  whose  Christian  name  I  have  noted  somewhere 
but  do  not  now  recall.  No  Harmons  appear  on  the  committee 
of  invitations,  which  causes  me  to  wonder  whether  that  once 
prolific  tribe  has  become  extinct  in  Suffield,  though  it  is  numer- 
ous elsewhere.  If  so  it  must  be  due  to  the  wanderlust  which  ap- 


QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD  IO3 

pears  so  generally  in  American  families.  I  wish  you  all  a  suc- 
cessful celebration." 

From  George  Francis  Sykes,  professor  of  Zoology  and  Physi- 
ology in  Oregon  State  College,  Corvallis,  Ore. 

"As  a  lineal  descendent  of  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Suffield 
and  myself  formerly  a  citizen  of  the  town,  I  take  pride  in  the 
two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  celebration.  Although  not 
one  of  the  seven  sons  of  Sumner,  son  of  Jesse,  son  of  Victory,  to 
claim  residence  in  Suffield  now,  our  hearts  and  our  hopes  are 
with  you  at  this  momentous  time.  My  mother  and  two  sisters, 
Lottie  and  Clara  are  voters  in  the  State  of  Oregon.  Although  so 
far  away  we  are  connected  by  geographic  links  with  the  old 
home  town;  Horace  is  in  Chicago,  Jesse  in  Cleveland  and  Eu- 
gene in  Springfield.  Greetings  to  friends  and  former  acquaint- 
ances in  Suffield." 

From  Hannah  L.  Phelps,  Long  Beach,  California. 

"As  a  native  of  Suffield,  a  long  time  resident  and  one  whose 
ancestors  for  four  generations  have  lived  and  are  buried  there, 
I  could  not  but  be  greatly  interested  in  anything  concerning  its 
history  and  development.  I  should  greatly  enjoy  seeing  the 
beautiful  old  town  again." 

From  Mrs.  C.  C.  Nichols  of  Wilmington,  O.  (formerly  Elouisa 
Fitch  King). 

"We  appreciate  the  invitation  and  feel  that  it  is  a  privation 
to  forego  the  pleasure  of  being  in  Suffield  on  so  interesting  an 
occasion.  Dear  Old  Suffield!  The  birthplace  of  my  parents  and 
grandparents  and  many  other  relatives  who  have  long  ago  passed 
over.  My  father  was  Joseph  Warren  King  and  my  mother's 
maiden  name  was  Betsey  Kendall.  Many  wishes  for  the  success 
of  the  great  anniversary  from  my  husband,  Clinton  Corwin 
Nichols  and  myself. 

From  Mrs.  H.  Spencer  Colton  Wright  Cornwell,  Minnequa 
Hospital,  Pueblo,  Colorado. 

"As  my  father  and  I  both  attended  the  C.L.I.,  as  a  former 
resident  of  dear  old  Suffield  and  lineal  descendent  of  William 
Pynchon,  Gov.  Wyllys,  Deacon  Samuel  Chapin,  Quartermaster 
George  Colton  and  allied  families  I  regret  my  inability  to  attend 
the  celebration.  In  my  club,  sociological  and  Americanization 
work  I  have  tried  to  inculcate  the  fundamental  principles  of 


IO4  QUARTER    MILLENNIAL    OF    SUFFIELD 

true  religion  and  patriotism  bequeathed  to  us  by  those  God 
fearing  Puritans — thus  trying  in  a  most  modest  way  to  prove 
myself  a  worthy  daughter  of  Sufneld. 

In  accepting  an  invitation  to  be  present,  Frank  B.  Gay, 
Director  of  the  Wadsworth  Atheneum,  Hartford,  wrote: 

The  grandson  of  a  Suffield  woman  and  with  relatives  still 
living  and  honored  in  its  community,  I  well  recall  the  many 
delightful  hospitalities  I  have  enjoyed  in  its  homes.  My  father 
took  me  to  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  town;  and 
memories  of  the  doings  on  that  day  are  still  much  more  lively 
and  persistent  than  of  many  other  affairs  since,  which  I  have 
attended.  I  have  never  forgotten  the  "new  Congregational 
Church"  and  its  organ,  the  program  which  seemed  rather  long 
to  the  boys  of  my  age;  then  there  was  the  big  band  which  we 
trailed  wherever  it  played.  But  beyond  all  else  was  the  "feed" 
in  the  vast  tent — so  it  seemed  to  us.  Another  reason  for  accept- 
ing is  that  it  seems  likely  I  shall  be  unavoidably  absent  at  the 
Tri-Centennial  anniversary  even  though  the  committee  of  that 
day  shall  remember  me. 


:=*  G 


?r  o   v_/ 
Go  O 


T-sf 


3  O, 


SUFFIELD  OLD  AND  NEW 


IN  OTHER  DAYS 


Mists  have  settled  thickly  over  the  years  as  they  have  receded . 
into  the  past,  hiding  much  of  the  lives  of  the  early  generations 
of  Suffield,  as  of  other  old  New  England  towns.  Life  went  on 
leaving  something  of  its  history  in  the  quaint  and  laconic  town 
records  and  something  in  family  histories  or  traditions  or  story, 
but  more  that  is  lost.  Socially,  economically  and  religiously 
Suffield  was  little  different  from  other  valley  towns.  Like  others 
it  had  its  Indians,  taverns,  negro  slaves,  tithingmen,  stocks, 
pounds,  and  commons;  and  its  minister  and  schoolmaster.  For 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  it  maintained  a  rank  but  little 
below  that  of  Springfield  and  Hartford.  Politically,  however, 
its  situation  was  somewhat  unique,  because  it  lay  in  the  direct 
path  of  the  long  warfare  over  boundaries,  both  town  and  colo- 
nial. In  a  general  way  the  history  of  this  controversy  has  been 
recorded  and  published,  but  there  were  many  peculiarly  stirring 
times  for  Suffield  people  and  in  them  was  the  genesis  and  de- 
velopment of  that  persistent  feeling  that  ultimately  led  to  sepa- 
ration from  Massachusetts. 

No  complete  history  of  the  town  has  yet  been  undertaken, 
but  it  has  been  more  fortunate  than  many  others  in  the  results 
of  the  labor  and  research  of  Suffield  men  of  the  last  generation. 
They  opened  a  door  to  a  better  knowledge  of  the  past  and  their 
work  is  a  legacy  that  will  be  more  and  more  prized  with  the 
years.  Preeminent  in  this  labor  of  love  for  the  old  town  was  the 
late  Hezekiah  S.  Sheldon  who,  besides  compiling  and  publishing 
his  "Documentary  History  of  Suffield  1660  to  1749,"  collected 
many  valuable  records  and  relics  of  early  Suffield  and  rare  books 
of  colonial  times,  including  Suffield  imprints,  now  constituting 
the  Sheldon  collection  in  the  Kent  Memorial  Library.  He  care- 
fully examined  the  old  records  of  the  Pynchon  family  and  of 
Hampshire  county,  and  any  others  throwing  light  on  the  early 
history  of  the  town.  Though  he  included  much  of  the  results  of 
his  research  in  his  documentary  history,  he  left  many  notes  that 
have  not  been  published  but  have  furnished  much  material  for 
the  pages  that  are  to  follow. 


IO8  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

The  late  William  L.  Loomis,  for  many  years  town  clerk,  de- 
voted much  labor  to  the  collection  of  the  genealogical  record  of 
the  old  Suffield  families  and  carefully  transcribed  them  in  a 
large  volume  now  kept  in  the  town  vault.  Other  historical  data 
have  been  brought  to  light  from  time  to  time  in  connection  with 
church  or  school  anniversaries.  In  connection  with  records  of 
all  Connecticut  towns,  the  State  Library  at  Hartford  contains 
much  material  relating  to  Suffield  but  still  awaiting  the  special 
study  of  a  Suffield  historian. 

Supplementary  to  the  story  of  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  the  town,  it  is  the  purpose  in  the 
pages  to  follow  to  include  some  references  to  men  and  events  not 
generally  in  printed  record,  or  that  furnish  glimpses  of  the 
periods  to  which  they  belong;  to  trace  briefly  the  history  of  the 
churches,  schools  and  other  institutions,  of  enterprises  that  have 
passed  orstill  persist,  and  to  add  briefly  some  record  of  the  events 
and  changes  of  the  past  fifty  years  or  since  the  celebration  of 
the  Bi-Centennial  in  1870.  The  hope  is  that  much  of  this  later 
history,  though  within  the  memory  of  many  now  living,  will 
gather  value  with  age,  and  for  those  who  may  celebrate  the 
three  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  the  town, 
leave  a  clearer  record  of  the  years  behind  them. 

Though  the  effort  has  been  to  make  this  supplementary  record 
as  accurate  as  possible,  it  is  realized  that  it  is  far  from  complete, 
and  could  not  be  made  so  without  an  expenditure  of  time  and 
research  that  this  volume  does  not  permit.  Much  that  should 
be  included  may  have  been  omitted,  and  as  it  is,  these  pages 
could  not  have  been  gathered  together  but  for  the  prompt  and 
cheerful  co-operation  of  many  different  people  of  the  town  for 
whose  kindness  and  interest  the  Committee  on  Publications 
wishes  to  make  acknowledgment  and  to  express  appreciation. 

The  Pioneers 

Among  Mr.  H.  S.  Sheldon's  unpublished  notes  are  the  follow- 
ing sketches  of  the  members  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the 
Massachusetts  General  Court  to  settle  Suffield: 

Major  John  Pynchon  was  the  son  of  William  Pynchon  who  was 
the  founder  of  Springfield.  He  was  born  in  England  in  1625  and 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  IO9 

came  to  New  England  with  his  father,  mother  and  three  sisters 
in  1630,  and  to  Springfield  in  1636.  In  1652  the  father  returned 
to  England,  and  the  son  from  that  time  was  the  chief  man  in 
western  Massachusetts.  His  executive  and  administrative  abili- 
ties were  of  a  high  order;  he  was  legislator,  judge,  soldier  and  a 
devout  Christian.  He  was  a  merchant,  dealing  largely  in  furs 
and  shipping  them  to  England.  He  owned  boats  and  shallops, 
employed  men  and  teams  and  did  the  principal  transportation 
business  of  the  valley.  He  also  owned  several  saw  and  grist 
mills  in  the  county,  at  this  time  of  the  first  importance  and 
value  to  the  settlers. 

Besides  these  numerous  responsibilities,  he  was  chief  agent 
for  purchasing  the  land  from  the  Indians  and  settling  the  towns 
of  Northampton,  Hadley,  Deerfield,  Northfield,  Enfield  and 
Suffield.  A  monument  of  enduring  granite  should  crown  some 
hilltop  that  overlooks  the  valley  where  rest  his  ashes.  No  fitter 
name  for  memorial  brass  or  sculptured  stone  has  yet  appeared 
in  New  England  history. 

Though  there  are  portraits  of  his  father,  William  Pynchon, 
and  of  other  magistrates  of  the  period,  none  of  Major  Pynchon 
exist. 

Captain  Elizur  Holyoke  was  born  in  England  and  came  to 
New  England  in  1637  when  about  twenty  years  old.  He  married 
Mary,  sister  of  Major  Pynchon  in  1640,  and  thereafter  dwelt  in 
Springfield.  As  legislator,  judge,  and  public  man,  he  ranked  next 
to  Mr.  Pynchon,  and  upon  him  as  a  counselor,  guide  and  friend 
Major  Pynchon  chiefly  relied.  Capt.  Holyoke  was  a  farmer  by 
calling  but  was  chiefly  employed  in  public  affairs.  He  held  a 
large  landed  estate  in  Springfield;  from  him  Mt.  Holyoke  was 
named.  He  died  in  1676. 

Lieutenant  Thomas  Cooper  came  to  this  country  from  Eng- 
land in  1635  when  eighteen  years  old.  He  was  a  first  settler  of 
Windsor  and  there  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade.  He  removed 
to  Springfield  about  1641  and  built  the  first  Meeting  House 
there  in  1645.  He  was  chosen  ensign  of  the  Springfield  company 
and  afterwards  lieutenant.  On  the  fifth  of  October  1675,  being 
in  command  of  the  Springfield  company  in  the  absence  of  Major 
Pynchon,  he  went  out  from  the  Fort  as  a  scout  to  examine  and 
explore  the  Indian  Fort  at  Pecowsic.  He  was  fired  upon  by  In- 


HO  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

dians  in  ambush  and  soon  after  died  of  his  wounds  at  the  age  of 
fifty-eight.  The  death  of  Captain  Holyoke  and  Lieutenant 
Cooper  left  but  four  of  the  committee  to  complete  the  settlement 
of  Sufneld. 

Quartermaster  George  Colton  was  in  Springfield  as  early  as 
1644.  He  later  settled  in  Longmeadow  where  he  died  in  1699. 

Ensign  Benjamin  Cooley  came  to  Springfield  as  early  as  1646 
and  later  settled  in  Longmeadow  where  he  died  in  1684. 

Rowland  Thomas  came  to  Springfield  at  about  the  same  time 
and  was  much  employed  in  the  public  business  of  the  colony. 
From  him  Mt.  Tom  derived  its  name.  He  died  in  1698. 

Samuel,  Joseph  and  Nathaniel  Harmon,  sons  of  John  Harmon 
of  Springfield,  were  the  first  settlers.  They  were  associated  with 
Major  Pynchon  in  an  extensive  fur  trade  and  had  ranged  through 
the  forests  and  among  the  streams  of  this  region.  It  is  said  that 
they  had  sought  to  secure  a  grant  for  the  plantation  some  ten 
years  before  the  petition  of  1670,  and  they  had  probably  begun 
a  settlement  before  that  year. 

Samuel,  who  was  unmarried,  died  in  1677,  and  his  Suffield 
lands  passed  to  his  brothers,  who  became  the  leading  men  of  the 
new  plantation.  Each  brother  had  ten  children,  and  Joseph  had 
thirty-six  and  Nathaniel  forty-five  grandchildren,  most  of  them 
born  in  Suffield.  For  more  than  one  hundred  years,  the  Harmons 
were  numerous  in  the  town,  and  were  extensively  intermarried 
with  other  old  families.  After  the  Revolution  many  joined  the 
tide  of  migration  to  the  new  lands  of  the  West,  where  now  numer- 
ous families  trace  their  ancestry  to  the  Harmons  of  Suffield. 

From  the  date  of  the  first  settlement  to  the  present  the  name 
has  been  preserved  in  Suffield  but  now  is  held  only  by  Mr. 
George  A.  Harmon,  the  first  selectman,  He  is  a  lineal  descend- 
ant in  the  seventh  generation  from  Joseph  Harmon  who  was  on 
the  first  board  of  selectmen  of  the  town. 

Deerfield  Captives 

Suffield  like  other  towns  in  the  valley  participated  in  the 
tragedies  of  the  Deerfield  attack  and  the  captivity  of  some  of  its 
people.  One  of  the  captives  who  never  came  back  was  a  grand- 
son of  James  Rising,  who  settled  in  Suffield  after  King  Philip's 


SUFFIELD    OLD   AND    NEW  III 

war  at  the  lower  end  of  High  Street.  He  died  in  1688  and  his 
son  John  inherited  the  estate  and  married  a  daughter  of  Timothy 
Hale.  They  had  nine  children,  one  of  whom,  Josiah,  was  only 
four  years  old  when  his  mother  died.  His  father  married  again, 
and  Josiah  was  sent  to  Deerfield  to  live  with  his  father's  cousin, 
Mehuman  Hinsdell,  whose  house  was  opposite  that  of  Benoni 
Stebbins. 

After  the  Deerfield  attack,  Mehuman  Hinsdell,  whose  wife 
and  child  had  been  killed,  found  himself  a  captive  on  the  road 
to  Canada  with  the  boy  Josiah  Rising.  In  the  same  train  were 
the  wife  of  Godfrey  Sims  and  their  daughter  Abigail,  four  years 
old.  Abigail  went  to  live  with  the  squaw  of  her  Indian  captor 
and  Josiah  to  the  wigwam  of  his  Macqua  master,  and  with 
other  captive  children  they  were  sent  to  the  mission  of  Mar- 
guerite Bourgeois  at  Sault  au  Recollet  near  Montreal.  The 
records  show  that  both  were  baptized,  Abigail  in  1704  as  Mary 
Elizabeth,  and  Josiah  in  1706  as  Ignace  Raizenne.  They  were 
evidently  favorites  for  in  the  several  attempts  made  to  redeem 
the  captives  Josiah  and  Abigail  were  never  given  up. 

After  the  peace  of  Utrecht  Captain  John  Stoddard  and  Parson 
Williams,  with  Martin  Kellogg  and  Thomas  Baker  as  guides 
and  interpreters,  undertook  another  mission  to  secure  the 
remaining  captives  and  arrived  in  Canada  in  1714.  There  is  evi- 
dence in  the  Massachusetts  records  that  Abigail's  Indian  mas- 
ter, learning  of  the  mission,  took  her  down  to  Westfield  and 
tried  to  sell  her.  Whatever  happened,  it  is  on  the  records  that 
Josiah  and  Abigail  were  married  by  a  priest  in  the  Church  of 
Notre  Dame  de  Lorette  at  Sault  au  Recollet  the  next  year,  or 
July  29,  1715.  The  missing  link  in  the  story  is  how  Abigail  was 
brought  back  to  Montreal. 

Josiah's  father,  John  Rising,  died  in  Suffield  in  1719,  and 
bequeathed  to  his  "well  beloved  son,  Josiah,  now  in  captivity, 
the  sum  of  five  pounds  in  money  to  be  paid  out  of  my  estate 
within  three  years  after  my  decease,  provided  he  return  from 
capitivity."  But  he  never  returned.  Josiah  and  Abigail  forgot 
their  own  people  and  became  the  progenitors  of  a  family  notable 
in  the  religious  life  of  the  French  in  Canada.  In  1721  the  mission 
was  transferred  to  the  Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains  and  the 
priests  gave  Josiah  and  Abigail,  or  Ignace  and  Elizabeth  Raiz- 


112  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

enne  as  their  new  names  were,  a  domain  of  their  own  a  short 
distance  from  the  Fort.  There  they  lived  for  many  years,  and  of 
their  eight  children  the  eldest,  Marie  Madeline,  was  a  nun 
named  Sister  Saint  Herman  and  taught  Indian  girls  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  The  eldest  son  was  a  priest  and  cure  of 
excellent  character  and  ability.  Marie  Raizenne,  born  in  1736 
was  the  most  famous  of  the  children.  She  was  Lady  Superior 
of  the  Community  of  the  Congregation. 

The  Martin  Kellogg  who  went  to  Canada  in  1714  as  interpreter 
for  John  Stoddard  was  doubtless  the  eldest  son  of  Martin  Kel- 
logg who  with  his  four  children  was  taken  captive  to  Canada. 
The  father  quickly  gained  his  liberty  and  came  to  Suffield  to  live, 
his  farm  being  on  Northampton  Road.  Martin  Jr.  was  re- 
deemed once,  but  again  taken  in  1708  while  with  a  scouting 
party,  and  again  redeemed.  The  second  son,  Joseph  Kellogg,  was 
a  prisoner  ten  years  and  became  familiar  with  the  languages  and 
customs  of  the  Indian  tribes.  In  1714  he  was  persuaded  to  leave 
with  the  Stoddard  party,  and  returned  to  his  father's  home  in 
Suffield.  He  married  a  sister  of  Rev.  Mr.  Devotion.  The  third 
child,  Joanna,  married  an  Indian  chief  and  never  returned.  The 
fourth,  Rebecca,  after  a  long  captivity  returned  and  was  long 
employed  in  Indian  mission  schools  in  western  New  York. 

Early  Courts  and  Lawyers 

For  many  years  Hampshire  county  contained  all  of  western 
Massachusetts  including  the  present  towns  of  Suffield,  Enfield 
and  Somers.  Worcester  County  was  not  incorporated  till  1731; 
the  three  towns  went  into  Connecticut  in  1749,  and  Berkshire 
became  a  separate  county  in  1761.  Practice  in  the  early  courts 
was  as  crude  as  the  settlements  but  in  1692  Massachusetts  by 
law  established  Courts  of  Common  Pleas  and  substituted  a 
Superior  Court  for  the  Court  of  Assistants.  The  old  court  re- 
cords deal  largely  with  two  subjects  — the  establishment  and 
repair  of  highways  and  the  human  frailties  of  many  people,  even 
prominent  settlers,  in  those  hard  and  strictly  religious  days. 

One  of  the  early  Suffield  lawyers  was  Christopher  Jacob 
Lawton,  born  in  1701,  and  grandson  of  John  Lawton  a  first 
settler.  Like  many  adventurous  spirits  of  those  days  he  became 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  113 

something  of  a  land  speculator  and  promoter  of  settlements. 
When  in  1713  the  long  standing  dispute  between  Suffield  and 
the  towns  to  the  south  was  settled,  and  Windsor  and  Simsbury 
gained  the  disputed  territory  that  forms  the  notch  to  the  south- 
west of  Suffield,  the  people  were  much  aggrieved  and  subsequent 
events  did  not  improve  their  feelings  toward  Massachusetts. 
In  1726  John  Kent,  Sergeant  King  and  Captain  Winchell  were 
chosen  a  committee  "to  pursue  that  matter  respecting  the  ob- 
taining an  equivalent  for  the  land  taken  from  the  said  Proprie- 
tors by  the  late  establishment  of  the  line  of  Connecticut,  and 
given  to  Windsor  and  Simsbury." 

In  1732  this  committee  was  impowered  to  employ  Christopher 
Jacob  Lawton  to  petition  the  General  Court  in  order  to  obtain 
an  equivalent. 

It  appears  from  other  records  that  Lawton  had  already  se- 
cured extensive  tracts  of  land  in  the  region  then  known  as  Hous- 
satanick  and  now  as  the  fashionable  Berkshire  Hills,  and  that 
sometime  before  or  during  the  year  1732,  when  Suffield  retained 
him,  he  had  already  petitioned  the  General  Court  for  a  grant 
of  500  acres  on  "  that  part  of  the  road  from  Westfield  to  Albany 
that  lies  between  Westfield  and  Houssatanick,"  on  the  plea  that 
travelers  suffered  great  hardships  because  there  was  no  tavern 
along  the  road.  Long  before  these  western  Massachusetts  wilds 
were  settled,  an  old  road  or  path  led  from  Westfield  over  the  hills 
to  the  Hudson  and  later  became  a  thoroughfare  for  the  armies 
engaged  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars. 

It  has  been  surmised  that  Lawton  had  an  interest  in  the  lands, 
afterwards  the  town  of  Blandford,  as  a  connecting  link  between 
his  Housatonic  lands  and  the  river  towns.  In  any  case  the  Gen- 
eral Court  at  Boston  granted  him  the  500  acres  on  condition 
that  he  would  erect  a  house  of  entertainment  with  suitable 
stables  by  September  I,  1734,  and  should  himself  reside  in  it  or 
provide  a  suitable  person  to  reside  there.  In  the  same  year,  and 
presumably  at  the  instance  of  Lawton  whom  the  town  had  re- 
tained, the  General  Court  granted  to  the  Suffield  Proprietors 
as  an  equivalent  for  the  lost  Simsbury  lands  a  tract  six  miles 
square,  which  was  roughly  known  as  Glasgow  and  later  became 
Blandford.  The  quantity  for  each  proprietor  was  two  hundred 
and  thirty  acres. 


114  SUFFIELD    OLD   AND    NEW 

Meantime  Lawton  built  a  tavern  in  the  west  portion  of  the 
present  Blandford,  and  put  a  man  named  Joseph  Pixley  in  charge 
of  it.  It  was  long  known  as  Pixley's  tavern.  Meantime  also  the 
Suffield  Proprietors  had  found  no  way  to  make  their  equivalents 
of  value,  and  they  gradually  sold  them  to  Lawton  at  such  sums 
as  he  bid. 

Lawton  evidently  had  some  trouble  with  the  Massachusetts 
General  Court  but  the  incidents  are  obscure.  It  is  possible  that 
having  acquired  the  whole  town  region  from  the  Suffield  Pro- 
prietors, he  showed  less  concern  for  the  conditions  of  the  small 
grant  of  land  within  it  for  a  tavern.  The  records  show  that  he 
sold  the  first  lots  to  the  settlers  of  Blandford. 

A  contemporary  of  Lawton  in  the  law  was  John  Muggins,  who 
was  born  in  Suffield  in  1688.  He  moved  to  Springfield  where  he 
had  an  extensive  practice,  and  about  1732  removed  to  Sheffield, 
where  he  continued  in  practice  and  was  succeeded  in  the  pro- 
fession by  his  son.  He  is  reputed  to  have  had  as  correct  knowl- 
edge of  the  law  as  any  man  of  that  day. 

General  Phinehas  Lyman 

Practice  in  the  Hampshire  County  Courts  had  become  greatly 
improved  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  and 
it  has  been  attributed  to  three  men,  Phinehas  Lyman  of  Suffield, 
John  Worthington  of  Springfield  and  Joseph  Hawley  of  North- 
ampton— contemporaries  and  all  men  of  note.  Of  these  Lyman 
and  Hawley  became  most  famous,  the  former,  however,  passing 
from  the  scene  before  the  Revolution,  while  Hawley  participated 
in  it.  General  Lyman  was  born  in  Durham,  Conn.,  in  1716,  was 
graduated  from  Yale  in  1738  and  for  three  years  was  a  tutor 
there.  Meantime  he  studied  law  and  in  1743  came  to  Suffield, 
then  in  Hampshire  County,  and  began  practice.  His  business 
soon  became  extensive  and  he  established  a  law  school  at  Suffield; 
John  Worthington  and  Joseph  Hawley  were  among  his  pupils. 
Historians  of  the  period  have  attributed  to  him  in  large  measure 
the  separation  of  Suffield  and  the  other  Connecticut  towns  from 
Massachusetts,  though  it  is  evident  from  the  town  and  other 
records  that  the  people  of  Suffield  were  unwilling  subjects  of 
Massachusetts  as  early  as  1720,  or  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century 
before  Lyman  came  to  town.  It  was  his  influence  and  skill, 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  115 

however,  that  finally  accomplished  it.  The  late  George  Bliss 
in  a  historical  address  on  the  bar  of  the  period  surmised  that 
Lyman  was  not  pleased  with  the  growing  fame  of  Worthington 
and  was  apprehensive  that  they  could  not  move  harmoniously 
in  the  same  orbit.  This  is  doubtful  as  Lyman's  gifts  were  not 
likely  to  suffer  from  competition. 

He  was  chosen  one  of  the  town's  selectmen  in  1746,  continued 
on  the  board  from  year  to  year,  and  was  usually  chosen  modera- 
tor at  town  meetings.  He  was  appointed  justice  of  the  peace 
for  Hartford  county  in  1750  and  also  a  commissioner  to  settle 
the  Massachusetts  boundary  line  with  Governor  Jonathan  Law 
and  Roger  Wolcott;  four  years  later  he  was  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners meeting  with  those  of  other  colonies  to  take  measures 
to  prosecute  the  war  against  France. 

In  March  1755  the  General  Assembly  appointed  him  comman- 
der in  chief  of  the  Connecticut  forces  under  the  British  comman- 
der, General  William  Johnson  in  the  expedition  against  Crown 
Point  with  the  object  of  driving  the  French  from  Lake  Cham- 
plain.  Lyman's  troops  marched  ahead  over  the  difficult  route 
to  the  Hudson  to  the  point  where  he  built  the  fort  afterwards 
named  Fort  Edwards.  Then  the  army  proceeded  to  Lake 
George  where  General  Johnson  laid  out  a  camp  to  which  the 
artillery  and  stores  were  later  brought.  Here  the  French  from 
Crown  Point  attacked  and  a  five  hours  battle  ensued.  General 
Johnson  was  wounded  and  General  Lyman  took  command  and 
won  a  signal  victory.  Among  the  Suffield  soldiers  in  this  expedi- 
tion were  Lieutenant  Elihu  Kent,  Sergeant  Benjamin  Bancroft 
Seth  King,  drummer,  Nehemiah  Harmon,  Joel  Adams,  David 
Bement,  Phinehas  Lyman  Jr.,  Noah  Pomeroy,  John  Spencer, 
James  Halladay,  Zebulon  Norton,  Edward  Foster  and  John 
White. 

In  1760  Connecticut  sent  four  regiments  under  the  command 
of  General  Lyman  in  the  campaign  against  Montreal  under 
General  Amherst.  The  troops  assembled  at  Albany  in  June  of 
that  year  and  began  the  march  toward  Montreal,  reaching 
Oswego  in  July.  At  this  point  the  troops  embarked  in  batteaux 
August  loth  and  sailed  down  the  lake,  entering  the  St.  Lawrence 
the  I5th.  On  the  i8th  Lyman's  troops  with  British  regulars 
reached  the  island  on  which  Fort  Levis  is  situated  and  were 


Il6  SUFFIELD    OLD   AND    NEW 

ordered  to  make  the  first  attack.  Under  fire  from  the  fort  they 
landed  on  the  island  and  erected  batteries  within  600  yards 
from  which  fire  was  opened  the  23d;  on  the  25th  the  French 
surrendered.  The  expedition  immediately  passed  down  the  river 
and  invested  Montreal,  Lyman's  regiment  having  a  position  in 
advance.  On  September  8th  the  French  commander  surren- 
dered, and  this  terminated  the  French  war  which  had  con- 
tinued six  years  and  completed  the  conquest  of  Canada.  Among 
the  Suffield  men  in  this  expedition  were  Oliver  Hanchett,  John 
Harmon  and  Thaddeus  Lyman. 

In  1762,  Great  Britian  having  declared  war  against  Spain, 
the  Connecticut  General  Assembly  voted  to  raise  and  equip 
2300  men  for  the  King's  service.  Under  the  act  1000  men  were 
enlisted  for  the  expedition  against  Havana.  New  York  furnished 
800  and  New  Jersey  500,  and  the  whole  army  was  put  in  com- 
mand of  General  Lyman.  Rev.  John  Graham,  the  first  minister 
of  the  West  Suffield  Congregational  church,  was  appointed 
chaplain.  The  expedition  joined  the  force  of  Lord  Albemarle 
which,  after  an  attack  of  two  months,  captured  Havana,  thus 
completing  within  a  few  years  a  British  victory  over  both  France 
and  Spain.  Robert  Burns  commemorated  the  two  events  in 
"The  Jolly  Beggars"  by  a  few  spirited  lines  in  which  the  old 
soldier  sings: 

My  'prenticeship  I  passed  where  my  leader  breathed  his  last, 
When  the  bloody  die  was  cast  on  the  heights  of  Abram; 

I  served   out  my  trade  when  the  gallant  game  was  played 
And  the  Morro  low  was  laid  at  the  sound  of  the  drum. 

By  the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1763  Havana  was  restored  to  Spain 
but  England  received  from  France  all  the  territory  claimed  by 
that  country  east  of  the  Mississippi.  This  acquisition  led  to  a 
movement  for  the  colonization  of  the  Mississippi  region.  Gen- 
eral Lyman  went  to  England  soon  after  returning  from  Havana 
and  was  there  for  about  ten  years  engaged  in  obtaining  Miss- 
issippi grants  from  the  British  Government.  Returning  to  Suf- 
field, he  formed  a  company  of  Connecticut  men  of  adventurous 
inclinations  including  some  from  Suffield. 

In  January  1774  he  left  Connecticut  in  a  vessel  commanded 
by  Captain  Goodrich  and  at  about  the  same  time  his  sons 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  I IJ 

Thaddeus  and  Phinehas  Jr.  sailed  in  another  vessel  from  Ston- 
ington.  Both  vessels  arrived  safely  at  New  Orleans,  and  General 
Lyman  and  his  men  immediately  proceeded  up  the  Mississippi 
river  to  the  Big  Black,  thence  up  that  river  about  seventeen 
miles  where  they  fixed  the  site  of  a  town.  In  June  1774  Thad- 
deus returned  to  Suffield  for  the  purpose  of  settling  his  father's 
affairs  and  removing  the  family  to  Mississippi.  General  Lyman 
and  his  son  Phinehas  remained  to  promote  the  settlement  and 
make  arrangements  for  the  family. 

From  Mr.  H.  S.  Sheldon's  notes  it  appears  that  General  Lyman 
had  sold  his  homestead  in  Suffield  (situated  on  the  south  corner 
of  Main  Street  and  the  West  Suffield  road  and  including  the  land 
where  the  present  railroad  station  is)  to  Benjamin  Bancroft  who 
had  been  one  of  General  Lyman's  Suffield  comrades  in  the 
French  and  Indian  wars.  The  deed  was  executed  in  New  York 
City  January  6,  1774,  and  therefore  when  General  Lyman  was  on 
his  way  to  Mississippi.  For  some  reason  the  property  was  bought 
back  by  his  son  Thaddeus  when  he  returned  to  settle  affairs,  the 
deed  being  dated  September  30,  1775  or  about  a  year  after  his 
return.  For  some  years  General  Lyman  had  owned  the  whole 
of  Great  Island  in  the  Connecticut  river  and  the  records  show 
that  the  same  year  he  sold  it  to  Roger  Enos  of  Windsor  for  200 
pounds.  Thus  all  indicates  that  he  planned  a  permanent  depar- 
ture for  his  Mississippi  enterprise. 

The  records  do  not  reveal  the  causes  or  the  motives  that 
operated  in  the  Lyman  family  at  this  time.  Thaddeus  returned 
to  Suffield  in  the  summer  of  1774,  the  year  of  the  first  Continen- 
tal Congress,  and  the  declaration  of  rights.  He  was  there  when 
Captain  Elihu  Kent  rallied  his  Suffield  men  at  the  time  of  the 
Lexington  alarm.  Patriots  were  already  taking  arms  in  all  the 
colonies  north  and  south.  Washington  had  been  appointed 
commander  in  chief;  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  had  been  fought; 
Fort  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point  that  General  Lyman  had 
captured  for  the  English,  had  been  taken  from  the  English  by 
Ethan  Allen  and  the  Green  Mountain  boys  in  the  months  of  1775, 
before  Thaddeus  Lyman  bought  back  his  father's  place. 

The  records  show  that  May  i,  1776,  Thaddeus,  his  mother, 
two  brothers  Oliver  and  Thompson  and  two  sisters  Eleanor  and 
Experience  in  company  with  others,  emigrants  for  the  new 


Il8  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

Mississippi  colony,  sailed  from  Middletown  Conn.,  and  on 
July  3Oth  reached  the  Mississippi  river,  a  few  days  after  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  For  some  reason  the  family 
did  not  reach  General  Lyman's  plantation  till  about  the  middle 
of  September  and  then  learned  that  General  Lyman  and  his  son 
Phinehas  were  both  dead.  Phinehas  Jr.  died  in  Natchez  in  1775, 
and  his  father  soon  after.  Mrs.  Lyman  died  a  few  days  after 
arriving  and  was  buried  by  the  side  of  husband  and  son. 

Such  was  the  tragic  ending  of  one  of  Suffield's  most  brilliant 
and  notable  men.  His  rare  gifts  and  attainments  would  have 
placed  him  in  the  front  rank  of  the  patriots  of  the  Revolutionary 
period  could  events  have  moulded  his  course  differently.  For 
twenty  years  he  had  been  a  soldier  of  the  King.  Though  in  those 
years  Suffield  was  his  home,  his  life  had  been  on  the  march,  in 
camp  and  field;  he  had  led  troops  that  ended  the  war  against 
France  and  troops  that  ended  the  war  against  Spain,  and  during 
the  ten  years  in  which  British  policy  bred  revolution  in  the 
colonies  he  was  in  England,  his  adventurous  spirit  looking  to  a 
great  new  domain  on  the  Mississippi.  He  had  not  been  living  in 
the  atmosphere  of  colonial  patriotism  in  the  years  preceding  the 
Revolution,  and  it  is  not  strange  that,  though  he  returned  to 
Suffield  on  the  eve  of  the  Lexington  alarm,  he  did  not  take  up 
his  sword  for  independence  but,  selling  his  Suffield  property  and 
gathering  men  about  him,  carried  the  British  flag  to  that  sad 
ending  on  the  banks  of  the  Lower  Mississippi.  Thaddeus  and 
his  sisters  returned  to  Connecticut;  he  deeded  the  homestead 
to  Benajah  Kent  June  2,  1788,  and  settled  in  West  Suffield. 

Gideon  Granger 

Another  Suffield  lawyer  to  acquire  large  fame  in  national  life 
was  Gideon  Granger,  born  in  1767,  prepared  for  college  by  Rev. 
Ebenezer  Gay  and  graduated  from  Yale  in  1787.  He  practiced 
law  in  Suffield,  his  office  being  next  to  his  father's  house.  He 
was  a  natural  politician  and  in  1792  as  the  representative  from 
Suffield  became  a  leader  in  the  Legislature.  At  first  a  Federalist 
in  politics,  he  later  espoused  the  cause  of  Jefferson  and  oppor- 
tunity for  larger  fame  came  to  him  in  the  presidental  election 
of  1800.  Gideon  and  his  cousin  were  the  most  important  cam- 
paign speakers  for  Jefferson  in  New  England,  the  Federalist 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 


stronghold.  Naturally  these  efforts  attracted  attention  at  Wash- 
ington to  which  the  Government  was  now  moving,  and  when, 
after  the  election,  Gideon  Granger  visited  Washington  he  had 
a  notable  reception.  He  was  appointed  postmaster-general 
and  held  the  office  throughout  Jefferson's  two  terms  and  a  large 
part  of  Madison's  administration.  He  grew  out  of  sympathy 
with  the  Madison  wing  of  the  party  and,  after  resigning,  re- 
moved to  New  York  and  became  identified  with  the  political 
fortunes  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  dying  in  1822. 

Hezekiah  Huntington 

Hezekiah  Huntington  was  born  in  1759  in  Tolland,  Conn. 
in  which  his  grandfather  was  one  of  the  first  settlers.  He  studied 
law  with  Gideon  Granger  and  with  John  Trumbull,  afterwards 
Judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Hartford 
Bar  in  1789.  The  next  year  he  came  to  Suffield  and  rapidly  es- 
tablished a  law  practice.  April  I,  1796  he  bought  the  Phinehas 
Lyman  homestead  from  Benajah  Kent,  who  eight  years  before 
had  bought  it  from  Thaddeus  Lyman,  and  at  the  same  time 
became  Suffield's  first  postmaster  of  record,  the  first  quarterly 
return  being  made  in  the  fall  of  1796.  With  the  Grangers  he 
went  into  the  Jefferson  party  and  in  1806  was  appointed  at- 
torney for  Connecticut.  He  held  the  office  until  1829.  He  repre- 
sented the  town  in  the  Legislature  from  1802-5.  In  1813  he 
moved  to  Hartford  where  he  died  in  1842.  He  was  the  father  of 
Judge  Samuel  H.  Huntington  who  was  born  in  Suffield  in  1793. 
The  Lyman  homestead  was  burned  at  about  the  time  Hezekiah 
Huntington  removed  to  Hartford,  but  his  law  office  was  saved 
and  still  stands  on  the  lot  where  it  has  served  for  various 
purposes,  including  the  office  of  School  Superintendent  for  a 
period. 

William  Gay 

William  Gay,  son  of  Dr.  Ebenezer  Gay  and  brother  of  Ebene- 
zer  2d,  was  a  contemporary  of  Gideon  Granger,  being  born  the 
same  year.  He  graduated  from  Yale,  studied  law  and  bought 
the  house  known  as  the  Gay  Mansion  in  1811.  He  succeeded 
Hezekiah  Huntington  as  postmaster  in  1798  and  continued  in 
that  office  for  thirty-seven  years. 


I2O  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

Calvin  Pease 

Calvin  Pease  was  born  at  Suffield  and  studied  law  with  Gideon 
Granger.  In  1800  he  went  to  Ohio  and  was  a  member  of  the  Leg- 
islature and  was  active  in  the  formation  of  the  State  Govern- 
ment. From  1803  to  1810  he  was  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  and  from  1816  chief  justice  of  the  Ohio  Supreme  Court. 
He  died  at  Warren,  Ohio,  in  1839.  Seth  Pease  his  brother,  born 
in  1764,  graduated  from  Yale,  was  educated  for  a  physician,  but 
he  was  appointed  First  Assistant  Postmaster  General  in  1816, 
and  was  the  first  to  hold  that  federal  office. 

Ministers  and  Laymen 

Several  ecclesiastical  figures  stand  out  conspicuously  in  the 
history  of  Suffield  as  men  of  strong  natures,  high  intellectual 
qualities  and  effective  leadership.  The  first  was  Dr.  Ebenezer 
Gay,  who  became  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  church  in 
1741.  He  was  widely  known  and  was  reckoned  as  one  of  the  able 
and  learned  divines  of  his  day.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he 
suffered  much  from  bodily  infirmities  which  often  confined  him 
for  weeks  together,  but  his  people  provided  him  an  assistant  in 
his  son,  who  at  his  death  succeeded  him.  This  son,  Ebenezer 
Gay  Jr.,  was  also  an  able  man  and  fitted  several  of  the  young 
men  of  later  prominence  for  Yale  college. 

Asahel  Morse 

One  of  the  strong  ecclesiastical  characters  in  Suffield  a  century 
ago  was  Rev.  Asahel  Morse,  who  succeeded  Rev.  John  Hastings 
as  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  church.  He  took  much  interest  in 
political  movements  and  in  1818  was  a  member  of  the  conven- 
tion that  framed  the  Constitution  of  Connecticut  and  drafted 
the  article  relating  to  religious  liberty.  Rev.  Calvin  Philleo 
partly  a  contemporary  in  the  Second  Baptist  church,  once  re- 
corded this  story  regarding  "Elder"  Morse:  He  had  been  down 
to  Hartford  in  the  course  of  the  week  to  attend  a  religious  meet- 
ing and  returning  early  Sunday  morning  to  West  Suffield  to 
preach,  as  usual,  passing  through  Windsor,  he  was  accosted  and 
asked  where  he  was  traveling  on  the  holy  Sabbath.  He  replied 
that  he  was  going  to  West  Suffield.  He  was  told  to  dismount  from 
his  horse  and  stay  in  their  house  till  Monday  morning,  and  then 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  121 

he  might  go  on  his  way.  He  pleaded  with  them  to  let  him  pass 
on;  he  would  disturb  no  one.  He  then  bid  them  good  morning, 
put  whip  to  his  horse  and  was  on  his  way  to  West  Suffield.  The 
Standing  Order  mounted  their  horses  and  pursued,  determined 
to  bring  him  back  to  Windsor,  to  be  tried  for  breaking  the  holy 
Sabbath.  The  elder  led  them  on,  keeping  a  little  ahead  of  them, 
till  they  all  arrived  in  front  of  the  Meeting  House  on  Zion's 
Hill,  where  a  multitude  of  people  were  gathered.  The  Elder 
dismounted  and  turned  and  addressed  his  pursuers  and  perse- 
cutors: "Gentlemen,  here  is  where  I  preach,  and  if  you  will  go 
into  the  meeting  and  hear  me  preach,  you  may  then  go  home  to 
Windsor;  otherwise  I  will  complain  of  you  for  breaking  the  holy 
Sabbath  as  you  call  it."  The  men  complied  with  the  terms 
proposed. 

Calvin  Philleo 

Elder  Philleo  was  himself  a  notable  ecclesiastical  figure  in  his 
time  which  was  distinctly  one  of  the  revival  seasons  that  for  a 
half  century  periodically  swept  over  much  of  New  England. 
Elder  Philleo,  says  a  historian  of  the  Second  Baptist  church,  was 
emphatically  a  revival  preacher,  eccentric,  impulsive  and  en- 
thusiastic. He  went  everywhere  that  opportunity  offered, 
preaching  the  word,  the  church  granting  him  the  liberty.  He 
was  possessed  of  a  vivid  imagination  and  remarkable  descriptive 
powers  which  he  used  to  great  advantage. 

Dzuight  Ives 

Under  his  preaching  on  a  Fast  Day,  Dwight  Ives,  a  gay  thought- 
less young  man,  seventeen  years  of  age  was  convicted  of  sin,  and 
in  great  distress  of  mind  for  two  weeks  until  he  found  forgive- 
ness in  Christ  and  said,  "Lord  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?" 
What  he  did  is  a  part  of  the  later  history  of  Suffield.  He  was 
pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  church  for  nearly  thirty-five  years, 
and  one  of  the  ablest  men  Suffield  has  produced.  He  left  a  strong 
impression  on  the  life  of  the  town.  His  long  pastorate  was  coin- 
cident with  the  religious,  educational  and  material  growth  of 
the  community.  He  was  an  earnest  preacher,  a  wise  executive 
and  a  leader  of  his  people,  firm  yet  beloved. 


122  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

The  religious  revival  in  the  early  twenties  of  the  last  century 
is  recorded  as  one  of  the  most  powerful  ever  experienced.  Strong 
men  were  seen  by  the  wayside  imploring  God's  forgiveness. 
Some  shut  themselves  up  in  barns  beseeching  the  Lord  to  have 
mercy  on  them.  Others  ran  to  their  neighbors  and  friends,  beg- 
ging prayers  in  their  behalf. 

Apollos  Phelps 

One  of  those  who  left  his  work  and  went  with  Elder  Philleo  on 
a  revival  mission  whenever  and  wherever  it  was  deemed  ex- 
pedient was  Captain  Apollos  Phelps,  who  held  the  enviable 
title  of  being  the  Samson  of  Connecticut.  He  was  born  in  1784 
and  for  a  long  time,  including  the  period  of  the  Bi-Centennial 
Celebration,  was  the  oldest  man  in  town.  In  his  younger  days 
he  was  six  feet  tall  and  possessed  of  a  remarkable  frame  and 
muscular  power.  Many  stories  are  told  of  his  marvelous  feats 
of  lifting.  Once  he  is  said  to  have  lifted  a  millstone  in  Windsor 
weighing  over  1700  pounds.  Another  authenticated  story  is  that 
one  day  in  the  late  Autumn  of  the  year,  when  the  Captain  was 
busy  about  his  cider  mill,  a  big,  burly  man  drove  up  and  inquired 
where  was  the  noted  wrestler  he  had  heard  so  much  about.  The 
stranger  said  that  he  was  from  Hartford  and  claimed  the  cham- 
pionship of  the  State  and  challenged  the  Captain  to  a  bout.  He 
was  told  that  he  would  be  accomodated  but  was  invited  to  have 
a  drink  of  cider  first,  to  which  the  stranger  acceded.  The  Captain 
stepped  up  to  a  barrel,  which  was  full  of  the  delicious  liquid  for 
which  the  over-the-mountain  orchards  are  famous,  lifted  it  on 
to  his  knees  and  proceeded  to  drink  at  leisure  out  of  the  bung 
hole.  When  about  to  pass  it  along  to  the  stranger,  the  Captain 
was  surprised  to  see  him  clambering  into  his  wagon  and  driving 
away,  saying  as  he  did  so  he  guessed  he  was  mistaken  in  his  man. 

During  a  certain  winter  he  was  engaged  in  sledding  wood  from 
his  wood  lot  on  the  mountain  to  Suffield,  and  on  going  down  a 
very  steep  place  the  bow-pin,  that  held  the  ox-bow  to  the  yoke, 
broke  and  released  the  nigh  ox.  The  Captain,  driving,  grabbed 
the  end  of  the  yoke  and  with  the  off  ox  as  mate  held  the  sled  and 
its  two  cords  of  wood  down  the  bad  incline  safely  to  a  level  place 
below,  where  he  repaired  the  bow-pin,  returned  the  released  ox 
to  the  neap  and  proceeded  to  town  with  his  load. 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  123 

Sylvester  Graham 

A  Suffield  name  that  has  endured  to  the  present  generation  is 
that  of  Dr.  Sylvester  Graham  of  "graham"  bread  and  cracker 
fame.  He  was  born  in  Suffield  in  1794,  the  youngest  of  seventeen 
children  of  Rev.  John  Graham,  pastor  of  the  West  Suffield 
Congregational  church.  Besides  being  a  preacher  and  orator  he 
was  a  strong  advocate  of  the  vegetarian  theory,  now  called  the 
"Graham  system, "and  believed  that  the  only  prevention  and 
cure  of  disease  lay  in  correct  habits  of  living.  He  was  editor  of 
the  Graham  Magazine  in  Boston  and  an  essay  on  bread  and 
bread-making  made  the  Boston  bakers  so  angry  that  he  was 
mobbed. 

Timothy  Swan 

Timothy  Swan,  who  has  been  called  the  Hatter-Composer 
was  born  in  Worcester  and  came  to  Suffield  about  1780.  He 
wrote  "China,"  "Poland,"  and  "The  Shepherd's  Complaint." 
He  was  looked  upon  by  his  neighbors  as  somewhat  eccentric, 
particularly  because  of  his  habit  of  never  removing  his  hat  unless 
absolutely  necessary,  when  he  always  put  on  a  red  or  black 
velvet  cap.  He  would  arrange  his  tunes  in  his  mind  while  work- 
ing and  set  them  down  at  night.  He  married  a  daughter  of 
Dr.  Ebenezer  Gay.  The  original  manuscript  of  "Poland"  is  in 
the  Kent  Memorial  Library. 

Great  River  and  Stony  Brook 

Saw  mills  were  the  first  industries  in  the  town  as  they  were 
essential  to  the  settlement.  In  1672  Major  Pynchon  built  a 
saw  mill  on  Stony  Brook  near  the  location  of  the  Boston  Neck 
school  house.  The  materials  were  brought  down  the  river  in 
boats  of  one  or  two  tons  burden  of  which  he  had  many.  This 
mill  was  burned  in  1675  by  the  Indians  but  was  rebuilt  after 
the  war.  The  first  corn  mill  was  attached  to  this  saw  mill  in 
1677,  but  the  corn  mill  did  not  prove  adequate,  so  he  built 
another,  supposed  to  be  at  or  near  the  present  mill  dam  at 
Brookside.  This  mill  formed  a  part  of  his  estate  in  1704,  and  by 
his  heirs  was  sold  in  1713  to  James  Lawton.  Other  saw  mills 
were  later  built  on  both  Stony  and  Muddy  brooks. 

In  170x3  the  town  voted  approval  of  a  plan  to  set  up  iron  works. 


124  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

The  men  interested  in  the  enterprise  were  Major  Pynchon, 
Joseph  Parsons  of  Northampton  and  John  Eliot  of  Windsor. 
They  were  set  up  before  1704  for  they  constituted  a  part  of  the 
Pynchon  estate  and  were  located  on  practically  the  same  site  as 
the  first  saw  mill.  Ore  was  obtained  from  Suffield  and  adjacent 
towns,  and  shovels  and  other  tools  were  made,  but  the  mill  and 
dam  were  both  swept  away  in  what  was  called  the  Jefferson 
flood  of  1801.  They  were  apparently  doing  service  for  nearly  a 
century  and  were  so  successful  that  two  other  iron  works  were 
established — the  middle  works  at  the  upper  end  of  South  street 
and  the  west  works  at  Stony  Brook  Falls  near  the  Simsbury  or 
now  East  Granby  Line. 

The  Oil  Mill  was  probably  built  about  1785  near  the  Oil 
Mill  bridge.  The  oil  was  made  from  flax  seed  produced  by  the 
farmers  in  Suffield  and  neighboring  towns  and  about  2000 
bushels  a  year  were  used.  The  product  was  shipped  mainly  to 
Springfield  and  Hartford.  Nearly  every  farmer  raised  more  or 
less  flax  which  the  housewives  spun  in  the  winter.  The  mill  was 
burned  in  1836  and  never  rebuilt. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  there  were  at  least 
four  cotton  mills  in  town,  making  yarn  for  knitting  and  for  the 
weaving  of  cotton  cloth.  One  mill  was  owned  by  Luther  Loomis 
at  the  lower  end  of  High  or  Main  street.  There  was  another  at 
the  Brookside  dam,  and  probably  in  the  old  brick  house  located 
there.  All  these  mills  were  located  on  Stony  Brook.  As  early  as 
1710  a  fulling  mill  stood  at  the  south  end  of  High  street  and  is 
said  to  have  been  in  operation  for  more  than  a  century.  In  com- 
mon with  other  towns  in  colonial  days  nearly  every  farmhouse 
had  its  looms  for  the  weaving  of  wool  into  clothing  and  carpets. 

In  the  years  before  the  railroads,  Suffield  carried  on  quite 
a  shipbuilding  industry  along  the  river  and  many  vessels  were 
launched  there.  Many  of  the  townspeople  at  one  time  put  their 
money  into  the  indigo  trade  and  went  on  long  journeys  in  the 
enterprise. 

It  is  a  tradition  that  the  first  steamboat  run  on  the  river  was 
in  1826.  Some  time  later  there  were  two  boats,  the  Agawam 
and  the  Massachusetts;  the  former  could  get  through  the  canal 
but  the  latter  had  to  go  over  the  rapids.  Later  the  Springfield 
was  put  on  in  competition  with  these  boats. 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  125 

The  Old  Ferry 

In  October  1678  Major  Pynchon  and  his  associates  made 
grants  of  land  to  John  Penguilly  and  to  Edward  Allyn  and  his 
three  sons,  about  240  acres  in  all,  along  the  river  road  above  and 
below  where  the  Thompsonville  bridge  now  stands.  They  came 
from  Ipswich,  Mass.  Thirteen  years  later  there  is  the  following 
entry  in  the  Hampshire  County  Court  record: 

"1691:  Upon  some  motion  that  there  may  be  a  ferry  started 
over  ye  Great  River  at  the  House  of  John  Alline  of  Suffield: 
This  Corte  doth  approve  &  appointe  Jno  Alline  of  Suffield  for  ye 
affaire  &  he  to  require  &  be  contente  with  4d  ye  horse  &  2d  ye 
man." 

This  was  the  first  ferry  at  Suffield  and  some  distance  north 
from  the  later  ferry.  It  appears  that,  at  a  later  period,  John 
Allyn  sold  his  farm  and  probably  the  ferry  rights  to  John  Trum- 
bull.  Two  Trumbulls  had  come  to  Suffield  and  settled  on 
Feather  Street,  the  brothers  Joseph  and  Judah,  and  each  had  a 
son  John — John  the  first,  as  he  is  called  in  the  Suffield  records* 
son  of  Joseph  born  in  1670;  and  John,  the  second,  son  of  Judah 
born  1675.  The  late  J.  Hammond  Trumbull  of  Hartford  once 
wrote:  "I  never  look  into  the  Suffield  records  without  being 
thankful  that  their  Uncle  John  of  Rowley  died  before  he  could 
bring  his  family  to  the  new  plantation.  If  he  had  come  and 
brought  another  little  John  with  him,  to  be  mixed  up  with  the 
cousins  in  the  town  records,  the  geneological  puzzle  would  have 
been  hopelessly  complicated."  As  it  is  the  two  Johns  have  given 
the  geneologists  much  trouble.  In  any  case  Joseph  Trumbull  of 
Feather  street  was  the  ancestor  of  the  famous  Trumbulls  of 
history.  Joseph  had  four  sons  whose  lines  of  descent  may  be 
charted  as  follows: 

John  the  first,  and  the  ferry  owner,  was  the  great  grandfather 
of  John  Trumbull  LL.D.  of  Hartford,  judge  of  the  Superior 
Court  1801-19,  treasurer  of  Yale  college  for  many  years,  and 
better  known  as  the  author  of  "McFingal  the  Modern  Epic," 
which  became  the  most  popular  American  poem  and  went 
through  twenty  editions  before  1820.  Joseph  settled  in  Lebanon 
and  was  the  father  of  Jonathan  Trumbull  the  Revolutionary 
Governor  of  Connecticut,  whose  eldest  son  was  a  Revolutionary 


126  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

general;  another  son,  Jonathan,  was  the  Governor  of  Connecticut 
1798-1809;  the  third  son,  John,  was  the  famous  artist  and  friend 
of  Washington;  the  fourth  son,  David,  was  the  father  of  Governor 
Joseph  Trumbull  1849-50.  Benoni  went  to  Hebron  and  was  the 
ancestor  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Trumbull  the  historian. 

John,  the  first,  like  John  the  second,  son  of  Judah  of  Suffield, 
had  a  son  Joseph,  the  Joseph  who  later  owned  the  Ferry,  either 
by  himself  or  with  John  Penguilly.  It  seems  to  have  been  first 
known  as  Trumbull's,  later  as  "Gillies",  still  later  as  Trumbull's, 
and  still  later  as  "Lovejoy's." 

Within  the  memory  of  those  still  living  a  steam  ferry  was  in- 
augurated about  1858  by  James  Saunders  who  three  or  four 
years  later  sold  it  to  Duane  Kendall.  After  running  it  about 
two  years  he  sold  to  Alanson  Burbank,  but  the  boat  had  gotten 
into  bad  condition  and  Mr.  Burbank  put  on  the  old  wire  ferry 
and  started  to  construct  a  new  steamboat.  About  1866  he  sold 
to  Watson  W.  Pease  who,  securing  some  help  from  the  town, 
finished  the  construction  of  the  new  boat,  and  named  her  "Cora." 
In  1869  he  sold  to  Loren  J.  Hastings  who  operated  the  ferry  till 
1871  when  Mr.  Pease  and  Mr.  S.  A.  Griswold,  together  bought 
the  property  each  with  a  half  interest,  and  ran  the  "Cora"  un- 
til the  new  bridge  company  was  formed  in  1891  and  bought 
the  rights. 

Mr.  Pease  and  Mr.  Griswold,  however,  bought  the  Cora  back 
with  the  privilege  of  running  her  until  the  bridge  was  completed 
which  was  in  1892.  Meantime  the  boat  had  been  thoroughly 
rebuilt  and  in  the  summer  following  the  opening  of  the  bridge  to 
traffic  Mr.  Griswold  ran  her  for  parties  on  the  river.  She  was 
then  laid  up  until  the  temporary  bridge  at  Hartford  was  taken 
away  by  the  ice.  Mr.  Griswold  then  took  the  boat  to  Hartford 
and  ran  her  as  a  ferry  from  the  fall  of  1905  till  June  1906.  During 
that  winter  Mr.  Griswold  bought  the  Pease  interest  and  later 
sold  the  boat  to  Samuel  A.  Miner  who  afterwards  sold  her  to  a 
party  in  Westerly  R.  I.  Shortly  afterwards  she  became  unsea- 
worthy  and  was  broken  up.  In  a  few  years  after  construction 
the  bridge  was  taken  over  from  the  company  and  made  free. 

Fisheries 
From  an  early  date  fisheries  along  the  river  acquired  the  rank 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  127 

of  an  extensive  business.  A  dam  was  early  built  and  jointly 
owned  by  people  mainly  living  in  Feather  Street.  At  a  town 
meeting  in  December  1730  Jacob  Hatheway,  Samuel  Copley, 
Richard  Woolworth,  William  Halladay,  Nathaniel  Hall,  Samuel 
Roe  and  Samuel  Hatheway  were  petitioners  for  certain  privi- 
leges which  the  town  granted,  on  condition  that  the  owners  of 
the  fish  dam  sell  salmon  at  five  pence  per  pound  and  shad  at  a 
penny  apiece  and  "that  they  will  not  barrill  any  for  a  market 
when  any  of  ye  Town  appear  with  any  vendable  pay  to  take 
same  off  for  their  own  use,  and  that  the  owners  put  one  hundred 
pounds  security  into  the  Town  Treasurer's  hands  for  the  Town's 
security."  Some  of  the  owners  objected  to  the  conditions  but 
they  were  accepted,  and  the  bond  was  deposited.  Apparently  the 
arrangement  was  intended  to  secure  to  the  people  of  the  town 
fish  at  a  certain  price  not  subject  to  the  market  for  barreled 
fish.  Seven  years  later  the  town  granted  to  another  company  of 
men  liberty  to  erect  a  small  dam  about  two  feet  high  and  three 
or  four  rods  into  the  river  "above  all  the  common  and  standing 
fishing  places  on  the  Upper  Falls  in  said  Sufneld." 

For  nearly  150  years  extensive  shad  fisheries  were  maintained 
on  the  river  and  the  Douglass  fisheries  located  a  little  south  of 
the  Ferry  are  easily  within  the  memory  of  many  now  living. 
About  thirty  years  ago,  owing  to  changes  in  the  dam  and  a 
diminution  of  the  shad  in  the  river,  the  fisheries  became  un- 
profitable and  were  given  up. 

The  Island 

The  Great  Island  of  about  one  hundred  acres  in  the  Connec- 
ticut River  rapids  has  had  a  historic  existence  but  with  little 
change  except  in  ownership.  Rev.  Ephraim  Huit  of  Windsor 
petitioned  the  Connecticut  General  Court  for  it  in  1641,  and  it 
was  granted  to  him.  At  his  death  in  1644  he  gave  it  back  to  the 
court  for  the  use  of  the  country.  About  thirty  years  afterward 
another  Windsor  man  named  John  Lewis  bought  it  of  the  In- 
dians who  claimed  it  but  this  title  proved  invalid,  and  in  1681 
the  Massachusetts  General  Court  gave  it  to  Major  Pynchon  in 
consideration  of  his  work  in  running  the  boundary  lines.  His 
petition  showed  that  he  took  this  action  to  meet  the  boundary 
claims  of  the  Windsor  people.  When  he  died  in  1703,  the  island 


128  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

was  appraised  as  a  part  of  his  estate  at  ten  pounds,  and  in  1717 
his  heirs  conveyed  it  to  John  and  Ebenezer  Devotion  and  Joshua 
Leavitt.  In  1754  General  Phinehas  Lyman  bought  the  whole 
island,  and  when  in  1774  he  disposed  of  his  property  to  go  to 
Mississippi,  it  was  sold  to  Roger  Enos  of  Windsor.  It  was  then 
called  Lyman's  island.  After  some  changes  in  ownership,  part 
of  it  was  bought  by  John  Ely  who  built  a  dam  across  the  west 
branch  of  the  river,  and  a  saw  mill  on  the  west  bank  in  1687. 
This  was  swept  away  in  1810  and  never  rebuilt.  In  the  last 
century  the  island  changed  hands  in  various  ways.  In  1864  it 
was  purchased  by  D.  C.  Terry  and  Milton  D.  Ives  and  Mr.  Terry 
lived  there  for  many  years.  It  is  now  generally  called  King's 
island.  In  1873  hundreds  of  adventists  gathered  on  the  island 
awaiting  the  end  of  the  world;  remained  there  for  some  weeks, 
and  then  dispersed. 

Enfield  Bridge 

In  1798  the  General  Assembly  granted  to  John  Reynolds  the 
exclusive  right  to  build  a  bridge  across  the  river  at  any  point 
from  the  north  boundary  of  Windsor  to  the  State  line.  The 
company  formed  located  the  bridge  between  Suffield  and  En- 
field  and  completed  it  about  1810.  Tradition  says  that  some 
of  the  money  was  raised  by  lottery.  Built  of  green  timber,  the 
bridge  soon  decayed  and  fell  into  the  river  of  its  own  weight. 

In  1826  another  bridge  was  constructed  on  the  same  site  by 
William  Dixon  of  Enfield,  to  whose  son,  United  States  Senator 
James  Dixon,  a  large  share  of  the  property  passed. 

When  the  railroad  was  built  from  Hartford  to  Springfield  the 
right  to  put  a  bridge  across  the  river  at  Warehouse  Point  was 
hotly  contested  by  the  Dixons,  and  the  courts  finally  declared 
that  their  charter  held  and  the  railroad  company  paid  to  them 
$10,000  for  the  privilege  of  erecting  the  bridge  at  that  point. 
When  the  Thompsonville  bridge  was  built  the  right  was  bought 
of  the  charter  owners  for  $1,200  and  when  the  Warehouse  Point 
bridge  was  built  $3,000  was  paid  for  the  right.  Senator  Dixon 
who  had  become  the  sole  owner  of  the  bridge,  before  his  death 
in  1873  transferred  it  to  Mrs.  Eliza  Marsh  of  Enfield.  It  was 
handed  down  to  her  children  and  was  owned  by  William  D. 
Marsh  of  Chicago  when  three  spans,  exactly  one-half  of  the 


EXFIELD  BRIDGE,  Built  1826  and  Swept  Away  1900 


THE 


BOAT 


FERRY  BOAT  "CORA,"  Discontinued  1892 


SUFFIELD    OLD   AND    NEW 


structure  went  down  the  river  in  a  freshet  February  15,  1900. 
The  bridge  had  been  considered  unsafe  and  had  been  closed  four 
years  before  it  fell. 

Hosea  Keach,  station  agent  at  the  Enfield  railroad  station 
near  the  structure  was  on  the  bridge  when  it  fell  and  was  carried 
down  the  river  three  miles  to  the  railroad  bridge,  where  a  rope 
was  thrown  to  him  and  he  was  pulled  up  to  safety. 

A  few  years  later  the  site  of  the  bridge  was  purchased  by  the 
Southern  New  England  Telephone  Company  and  the  remaining 
part  of  the  bridge  was  blown  up  with  dynamite.  The  old  piers 
were  used  for  towers  to  string  telephone  cables  across  the  river 
and  the  company  established  a  central  office  at  the  old  toll 
house. 

Slaves 

Old  records  prove  that  African  slavery  existed  in  Suffield  as 
in  other  New  England  towns  for  nearly  a  century.  Slaves  were 
admitted  to  church  membership,  permitted  to  marry  and  were 
increasing  in  numbers  when  the  state  emancipation  act  of  1784 
was  passed.  With  the  boon  of  freedom,  their  social  status 
lowered,  and  they  soon  dwindled  away  and  practically  dis- 
appeared. For  many  years  before  Lincoln's  proclamation  a 
negro  was  seldom  seen  in  Suffield. 

The  earliest  record  of  a  negro  slave  in  the  Connecticut  valley 
is  found  in  Major  Pynchon's  account  book  October  1671,  re- 
cording his  purchase  of  John  Crow  of  Hadley  for  six  pounds. 
The  Hampshire  county  records  show  the  marriage  of  his 
"negroes,  Roco  and  Sue."  Slaves  were  not  numerous  in  Suffield 
as  only  people  of  means  could  afford  them.  Here  as  elsewhere 
they  were  most  frequently  found  in  the  families  of  the  ministers, 
the  magistrates  and  the  tavern  keepers.  They  were  seldom  sold 
and  usually  passed  to  some  member  of  the  family  as  a  part  of 
the  estate.  In  1726  the  town  voted  twenty  pounds  to  the  min- 
ister, Mr.  Devotion,  towards  the  purchase  of  slaves. 

In  1756  Suffield  had  twenty-four  slaves;  in  1774  thirty-seven; 
in  1782  fifty-three;  in  1790  twenty-eight  and  in  1800  four.  The 
manumission  of  three  slaves  in  1812  by  the  heirs  of  Dr.  Ebenezer 
Gay  terminates  the  African  slave  record  in  Suffield.  Mr.  Gay, 
like  his  predecessor  Mr.  Devotion,  held  slaves,  and  slaves  were 


I3O  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

born  to  his  estate.  Male  slaves  between  sixteen  and  sixty  were 
listed  at  eighteen  pounds.  Among  Mr.  Sheldon's  unpublished 
historical  notes  is  an  interesting  record  of  all  mention  found 
of  slaves  in  Suffield  from  1725  on.  They  show  that  among 
owners,  besides  the  ministers,  were  Jared  Huxley,  Ensign  Samuel 
Kent,  Joshua  Leavitt,  Lieut.  Jonathan  Sheldon,  Seth  Austin, 
Benjamin  Scot,  Joseph  Pease,  Apollos  Hitchcock,  Simon  Kendall, 
General  Phinehas  Lyman  and  Captain  Isaac  Pomeroy. 

By  an  act  of  1784  masters  or  owners  of  slaves  desiring  to  be 
acquitted  of  their  future  maintenance  or  support  could  manu- 
mit them,  provided  the  slave  was  willing  and  a  certificate  pro- 
cured from  the  civic  authority  that  he  or  she  was  sound  in 
health  and  not  more  than  forty-five  nor  less  then  twenty-five 
years  of  age. 

Among  the  records  of  such  manumission  was  one  of  a  negro 
named  "Stephen  Pero,"  discharged  in  1787  from  the  estate  of 
Jacob  Hatheway  by  his  executor  Elijah  Kent.  The  West 
Suffield  Church  records  show  that  Stephen  Pero  and  his  wife 
were  admitted  to  the  church  September  7,  1800.  Pero  was  long 
remembered  and  was  said  to  be  a  general  favorite  with  all,  but 
he  sometimes  "took  a  drop  too  much",  and  was  always  ready  to 
make  confession  without  a  summons  from  the  church  committee. 
The  first  knowledge  of  a  lapse  was  usually  imparted  to  the 
brethren  by  Pero  himself,  inviting  them  all  to  be  present  next 
Sabbath  and  hear  "the  grandest  confession  ever  made".  He 
died  in  West  Suffield  about  the  year  1820.  His  widow  Nancy 
Pero  died  at  the  poor  house  in  1840. 

In  1812  Rev.  Ebenezer  Gay  and  William  Gay  applied  for 
permission  to  discharge  three  slaves,  Genny,  Dinah  and  Titus, 
inherited  from  their  father,  and  it  was  granted.  It  appears  from 
the  family  record  that  Dr.  Ebenezer  Gay  early  had  a  slave 
named  Prince,  and  a  little  later  bought  at  an  auction  at  Middle- 
town  a  slave  woman  named  Rose  who  was  a  native  born  African, 
and  claimed  to  be  a  princess  in  her  country,  her  evidence  being 
the  elaborate  tattoo  on  her  back.  Rose  had  three  children  born 
in  Suffield,  Genny,  Dinah  and  Titus.  After  manumission  Genny 
and  Dinah  became  paid  servants  in  different  families. 

Titus,  or  "Old  Ti"  as  he  was  later  well  known  throughout  the 
town,  was  lordly  and  dignified  in  mien,  fond  of  exercising  au- 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 


.  thority,  and  black  as  a  coal.  The  many  offices  he  performed  led 
him  to  believe  that  he  was  next  to  Mr.  Gay  in  authority  and  he 
deported  himself  accordingly.  He  was  the  sexton,  the  grave 
digger,  the  bell  ringer  and  looked  after  the  town  clock  in  the 
belfry.  His  supervision  of  the  boys  on  the  Sabbath  from  his 
high  pew  in  the  gallery  had  a  vigilance  and  thoroughness  that 
left  the  town  tithingmen  without  occupation. 

For  about  forty  years  he  performed  these  various  duties  in 
and  around  the  old  Meeting  House  which  was  torn  down  in 
1835.  With  the  passing  of  this  Meeting  House  "Ti's"  life  work 
seems  to  have  closed,  for  he  died  in  1837  and  was  buried  in  the 
church  yard  where  he  had  raised  scores  of  mounds;  but  not  even 
a  mound  marks  the  place  of  his  burial.  Whether  it  was  a  mere 
witticism  or  a  fact,  it  used  to  be  stated  that  the  people  so  ar- 
ranged the  burial  of  their  dead  that  on  the  morning  of  resurrec- 
tion, when  the  dead  should  rise  and  face  eastward,  the  colored 
people  would  stand  in  the  rear. 

"A  remote  pew  in  the  Meeting  House"  says  one  of  Mr.  Shel- 
don's notes,  "and  a  remote  corner  in  the  church  yard  were  the 
common  heritage  of  the  negro.  Scores  of  them  were  buried  at 
the  northwest  corner  of  the  ancient  ground  with  only  rank 
weeds  and  briars  to  protect  the  mounds  above  them.  The 
march  of  improvements  came  in  1850  and  the  allotted  corner 
was  wanted.  New  earth  now  covers  the  bones  of  the  black  man 
and  the  dust  of  a  generation  of  whites  reposes  above  them.  'No 
storied  urn  or  animated  bust'  indicates  that  ever  an  African 
slave  had  rested  'his  head  upon  the  lap  of  earth'  in  the  first 
church  yard  of  Suffield." 

The  Old  Clock 

Of  the  history  of  the  old  clock  mentioned  as  being  in  the  spec- 
ial care  of  Old  Ti  little  is  known.  Uoon  the  east  side  of  the  tower 
of  the  third  church  of  the  First  Congregational  Society  was  a 
dial,  and  the  clock  was  placed  within  at  some  period.  It  did 
duty  till  1835  when  that  Meeting  House  was  torn  down  to  make 
room  for  the  fourth  which  is  now  the  freight  station.  Mr. 
Sheldon  says  that  he  regrets  that  he  assisted  in  the  vandal  work 
of  pulling  down  this  tower,  and  its  spire  which  was  the  most 
sightly  and  graceful  architectural  work  the  town  had  seen.  The 


132  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

clock  leaves  no  clue  or  record  of  its  origin,  its  cost  or  the  maker. 
We  only  know  that  it  was  doing  duty  one  hundred  years  ago. 

The  present  clock  in  the  belfry  of  the  First  Congregational 
church  was  a  gift  from  the  late  Mrs.  Cornelia  Pomeroy  Newton 
about  twenty  years  ago. 

Burial  Grounds 

The  precise  time  when  the  original  Suffield  "  Burying  Ground  " 
was  used  for  burials  is  unknown  but  undoubtedly  it  was  between 
the  years  1677  and  1683.  In  making  a  grant  to  Robert  Old,  Octo- 
ber 30,  1677  of  a  lot  twelve  rods  broad  on  the  north  side  of  "ye 
Highway  that  goes  over  Muddy  Brooke,"  the  committee  re- 
served three  lots  to  the  north  of  Old,  "to  be  granted  to  some 
useful  persons;"  but  in  March  1683  the  town  granted  to  Robert 
Old  "a  parcel  of  land  lying  below  ye  Burying  Place,"  indicating 
that  it  had  been  established  as  such.  The  next  year  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  fence  in  the  burying  place  and  to  "settle  ye 
bounds."  This  was  done  and  the  record  reads:  "Layed  out  by 
ye  order  of  Town  on  ye  Meeting  House  Hill  a  burying  place 
containing  one  acre  and  a  half,  the  bounds  whereof  are  as  follows, 
viz:  South  and  west  bounded  by  Robert  Old's  land;  north  by 
Serg.  Thomas  Huxley,  his  son's  lot;  ye  east  or  front  upon  ye 
Common  land.  It  is  twenty  rod  in  length  and  twelve  rod  in 
breadth  and  bounded  at  each  corner  by  stake  and  stone."  The 
first  Meeting  House  then  stood  on  the  Common  where  the  boul- 
der now  is.  The  next  year,  1685,  Serg.  Thomas  Huxley  was 
appointed  grave  digger,  receiving  four  shillings  for  graves  of  per- 
sons sixteen  years  old  and  upward  and  two  shillings  and  six 
pence  for  children.  He  was  also  constable  and  innkeeper.  He 
died  in  1721 ;  his  son  William  was  grave  digger  in  1717. 

For  a  long  period  the  care  of  the  burying  ground  was  evidently 
a  difficult  subject  for  the  town.  In  1698  it  was  voted  "to  let  the 
burying  ground  to  Goodman  Old,  his  heirs  and  successors  for  his 
or  their  sole  use  and  benefit,  for  the  pasturing  and  feeding  of 
cattel,  for  the  term  of  twenty  years;  upon  the  conditions  follow- 
ing, viz:  that  said  Old,  his  heirs  and  successors  after  him,  and  at 
all  times  duering  said  term,  securing  said  burying  place  with  a 
sufficient  fence  from  damage  done  by  hoggs  and  other  creatures. 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  133 

The  Town  engaging  to  cut  down  the  Bushes  in  said  burying 
place;  said  Old  alike  engage  to  keep  them  down  as  well  as  he 
can."  This  lease  expired  in  1718,  and  at  a  special  town  meeting 
that  year  it  was  voted  that  the  town  bear  the  charge  of  clearing 
the  burying  place  and  fencing  it  "so  far  as  in  their  part  and 
proper  for  them  to  do."  Two  years  later  the  town  granted  John 
Huxley  "the  use  of  the  burying  place  for  twenty  year,  provided 
he  clear  it  and  leave  it  fencet  when  the  time  is  up."  But  in  town 
meeting  in  November  1735,  or  five  years  before  this  lease 
could  have  expired,  it  was  voted  "that  the  selectmen  Do  some- 
thing as  they  shall  think  best  about  fencing,  clearing  and  laying 
out  ye  Burying  Yeard."  This  was  more  than  sixty  years  after 
the  settlement  of  the  town. 

When  the  West  Society  was  set  off  in  1740,  the  old  burying 
ground  fell  to  the  charge  of  the  First  Society  and  gradually  im- 
provements were  made.  From  time  to  time  after  1830  about 
three  acres  were  laid  out  on  the  south,  bringing  it  down  to  the 
highway  and  in  1850  the  grounds  were  enlarged  westerly  by  the 
purchase  of  one  hundred  and  forty-six  rods  of  land.  The  retain- 
ing wall  on  the  south  and  the  vault,  the  latter  built  in  1887  at  a 
cost  of  $2386.71,  and  the  arch,  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Cornelia  Pomeroy 
Newton,  were  among  the  later  improvements. 

The  records  of  the  West  Society  show  that  on  December  15, 
1749,  it  was  voted  to  purchase  a  place  for  a  burying  ground,  and  in 
February  of  the  next  year  Samuel  Harmon,  Jonathan  Sheldon 
and  Philip  Nelson  were  chosen  a  committee  to  purchase  the  land. 
They  bought  and  fenced  in  one  square  acre  on  Ireland  plain. 
In  1844,  the  cemetery  having  meantime  passed  to  the  control 
of  the  school  society,  a  half  acre  was  added  on  the  east  side,  and 
in  1850  one-fourth  of  an  acre  adjoining  on  the  east  was  purchased 
and  laid  out  in  twenty  private  lots,  the  owners  being  chiefly 
members  of  the  Congregational  Society.  In  1867  the  school 
society  added  an  acre  in  a  narrow  strip  on  the  north  side  and  the 
whole,  about  two  and  three  quarters  acres,  was  enclosed  by  a 
substantial  fence. 

The  land  of  the  burying  ground  in  the  rear  of  the  First  Bap- 
tist church  on  Zion's  or  Hastings'  Hill  was  owned  by  Joseph 
Hastings  when  in  1769  he  established  and  became  the  first  pastor 
of  the  church.  In  the  same  year  he  gave  a  plot  of  it  for  a  burial 


134  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

place  for  himself  and  his  flock.  Here  he  and  his  son  John,  who 
followed  him  in  the  ministry,  and  Rev.  Asahel  Morse,  the  third 
pastor,  were  buried.  As  more  space  became  necessary,  additions 
were  made  from  time  to  time.  In  1905  the  management  was  in- 
corporated in  the  Zion's  Hill  Cemetery  Association.  The  ceme- 
tery contains  the  graves  of  many  descendants  of  old  Suffield 
families  and  graves  of  soldiers  of  the  wars  of  the  Revolution  and 
1812,  and  of  the  Civil  and  World  wars. 

The  Suffield  mountain  and  the  land  lying  west  of  it  consti- 
tuted common  land  until  divided  among  the  proprietors  in  suc- 
cessive tiers  of  allotments,  the  last  being  made  in  1759  when  the 
valley  of  about  seven  hundred  acres  lying  west  of  the  foot  of  the 
mountain  was  divided  into  one  hundred  and  twelve  lots,  repre- 
senting the  number  of  the  proprietors,  in  the  proportion  of  six 
acres  to  every  original  fifty  acre  grant.  At  the  same  time  the 
north  half  of  Manituck  mountain  was  granted  to  Captain 
Abraham  Burbank  and  the  south  half  to  Samuel  Kent  to  pay 
claims  of  eight  pounds  eight  shillings  of  each,  probably  for 
services. 

To  the  south  of  this  "over-the-mountain"  valley  was  Copper 
Hill  with  its  mine,  afterwards  Newgate  prison;  to  the  west  Mani- 
tuck mountain  and  to  the  north  Lake  Congamond,  both  Indian 
named  and  both,  as  relics  show,  favorite  localities  of  the  tribes. 
Just  when  the  lands  so  divided  began  to  be  taken  up  by  settlers 
is  not  known,  but  probably  in  the  period  between  the  French 
and  Indian  Wars  and  the  Revolution.  Certain  it  is  that  in  1788 
there  came  into  use  a  little  plot  of  land  in  the  center  of  the  valley 
for  a  burial  ground.  Probably  it  was  so  used  for  a  time  pre- 
viously, for  there  are  graves  bearing  no  markers  and  others  hav- 
ing markers  beneath  or  on  a  level  with  the  sod.  There  is  a  marker 
bearing  the  initials  "M.  C.  1788"  which  the  late  Capt.  Apollos 
Phelps,  getting  his  information  from  the  fathers  of  his  boyhood, 
used  to  say  stood  for  Moses  Cadwell.  Tradition  has  it  that  about 
1790  Elijah  Phelps  gave  this  plot  of  land  of  about  one  acre  to  the 
people  of  the  valley  as  a  common  burial  ground.  In  the  records 
is  a  subscription  paper  of  1793  for  the  maintenance  of  the  lot. 
There  have  been  some  changes  in  the  boundaries  but  the  area 
remains  about  the  same.  The  cemetery  is  now  in  control  of 
The  Burial  Ground  Association  of  the  West  Side  of  the  Moun- 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  135 

tain  and  Judah  Phelps  is  the  sexton  and  caretaker.  It  has  a  fund 
of  $300,  the  income  of  which  is  for  the  care  of  the  grounds. 

Each  ecclesiastical  society  controlled  its  burying  ground  until 
about  the  year  1821  when  a  state  statute  gave  school  societies 
limited  powers  relating  to  burying  grounds  and,  whether  fully 
authorized  or  not,  the  school  societies  appear  to  have  taken  com- 
plete control  of  the  old  burying  grounds  in  1844.  This  method 
has  remained,  the  cemetery  associations  being  really  functions 
of  the  school  societies.  Under  an  act  of  the  Legislature  author- 
izing towns  to  hold  trust  funds  for  the  care  of  family  lots,  the 
trust  was  accepted  by  the  town  in  1895,  and  the  aggregate  funds 
so  contributed  by  different  people  now  amounts  to  over  $7,000. 

Action  for  the  establishment  of  a  new  cemetery  at  the  Center 
was  taken  in  1871,  and  in  April  of  that  year  twenty  acres  were 
purchased  from  Thomas  Archer  &  Sons  at  a  cost  of  $4,263.75. 
The  committee  consisted  of  Henry  Fuller,  Dr.  M.  T.  Newton, 
Albert  Austin,  Byron  Loomis,  William  L.  Loomis,  J.  M.  Hathe- 
way,  George  A.  Douglass,  R.  T.  Mather,  and  William  H.  Fuller. 
The  ground  was  laid  out  and  fenced  and  in  August  1872  it  was 
dedicated  as  Woodlawn  cemetery.  In  1920  eight  more  acres 
were  added  by  purchase  from  John  Merrill.  In  the  fifty  years 
many  handsome  monuments  have  been  erected.  The  beauti- 
ful gateway  was  the  gift  of  Charles  L.  Spencer  in  memory  of  his 
daughter  Julia  Spencer  Goldthwaite. 


CHURCH,  SCHOOL  AND  LIBRARY 

To  the  first  settlers  of  Suffield,  as  of  other  early  towns  in  the 
New  England  colonies,  civil  and  ecclesiastical  affairs  were, 
practically  coterminous.  The  body  of  voters  within  the  town- 
ship settled  civil  and  ecclesiastical  affairs  in  the  same  town 
meeting.  The  church  really  began  with  the  settlement.  The  act 
of  incorporation  of  Suffield  required  that  the  settlers  "take  care 
for  the  procuring  and  maintayning  some  able  minister  there." 
At  the  first  meeting  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  General 
Court  at  Boston  to  lay  out  the  plantation,  it  was  ordered  that 
"a  Convenient  allotment  of  60  or  80  acres  near  the  Centre  of  the 
Town  be  Reserved  for  the  property  of  the  first  Minister;"  and 
that  "a  convenient  allotment  of  80  acres  be  set  apart  for  the 
ministry  and  to  continue  and  be  improved  for  that  use  forever 
&  not  Granted  away  or  sold  or  any  way  alienated  therefrom." 
It  was  further  stated  that  the  true  intent  of  the  order  and  grant 
was  to  continue  it  for  the  maintenance  of  such  minister  as  from 
time  to  time  should  "preach  the  Word  of  God  to  the  inhabi- 
tants." 

First  Congregational  Church 

Not  until  the  return  of  the  settlers  after  King  Philip's  war  and 
the  later  acquisition  of  several  new  inhabitants  from  other 
towns  could  provision  be  made  for  either  church  or  minister, 
but  at  a  meeting  in  Suffield  in  1679  Major  Pynchon,  George 
Colton  and  Rowland  Thomas,  of  the  committee  in  whose  hands 
the  plantation  was  still  lodged,  granted  eighty  acres  "for  In- 
couragement  of  Mr.  John  Younglove  to  come  to  Suffield,  who 
hath  beene  sought  to  which  respect  to  being  their  Minister  &  to 
Preach  ye  word  of  God  to  ye  People  there."  The  degree  of  en- 
couragement may  be  measured  from  the  fact  that  the  committee 
was  selling  home  lots  at  about  six  cents  an  acre.  At  this  time 
Mr.  Younglove  was  a  teacher  in  Hadley.  He  had  probably  come 
to  Suffield  to  preach  on  Sundays  for  a  period  before  the  grant. 
The  first  Meeting  House  was  probably  built  in  1680  but  no 
mention  is  made  of  the  building  until  five  years  later.  It  was  of 
the  type  common  to  all  the  Meeting  Houses  of  the  period —  a 


138  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

square  wooden  building  usually  unpainted,  crowned  with  a 
truncated  pyramidal  roof. 

For  some  reason  the  services  of  Mr.  Younglove  became  un- 
satisfactory in  1690  when  the  town  petitioned  the  county  court 
at  Northampton  against  his  preaching  longer,  and,  pending 
action,  he  died.  After  five  years  of  unsuccessful  efforts  to  obtain 
another  minister,  in  1695  Benjamin  Ruggles,  who  had  been 
graduated  from  Harvard  two  years  before,  became  pastor.  A 
new  Meeting  House  and  the  first  school  house  were  built  in  1700 
or  shortly  after  his  settlement.  There  is  little  record  of  his  min- 
istry except  as  it  appears  in  the  town  records  but  he  was  an  ac- 
tive leader  in  the  town.  He  died  in  1708  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
two. 

The  third  minister,  Ebenezer  Devotion,  was  obtained  in  1709. 
He  came  from  Roxbury,  where  his  parents  lived,  and  had  been 
graduated  from  Harvard  two  years  before.  He  was  ordained  in 
June  1710,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  went  to  Boston  to  be 
married.  The  town  voted  "to  allow  John  Rising  3  shilling  per 
day  for  himself  and  his  horse  for  ye  nine  daies  he  was  out,  when 
he  went  to  ye  Bay  with  Mr.  Devotion,  the  when  he  went  to  be 
married."  The  pastorate  was  a  successful  one  of  more  than 
thirty  years  and  was  terminated  by  his  death  in  1741. 

Extensive  revivals  prevailed  throughout  New  England  in  the 
latter  part  of  Mr.  Devotion's  ministry,  and  327  names  were 
added  to  the  church  roll.  This  revival  had  notable  effects,  one 
of  which  was  the  division  cf  the  church,  and  the  formation  of 
the  West  Congregational  Society  and  another  was  the  accel- 
erated development  of  the  Separatist  movement  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  other  denominations. 

The  fourth  minister,  Ebenezer  Gay,  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
in  1737,  preached  his  first  sermon  in  Suffield  August  9,  1741  and 
was  acting  pastor  for  more  than  fifty  years.  He  came,  at  the 
time  of  the  division  of  the  church;  the  West  Suffield  church  had 
been  incorporated  but  not  yet  organized.  The  project  of  build- 
ing a  new  and  larger  church  was  given  up  for  the  time,  though 
from  the  town  records  it  appears  that  some  of  the  timber  had 
been  already  provided,  and  the  town  expressly  voted  that  the 
West  Society  should  not  share  in  its  ownership.  In  the  report 
of  the  "One  hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Decease 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  139 

of  Benjamin  Ruggles"  it  is  stated  that  "the  Meeting  House 
survived  some  alterations  and  resolutions  to  build  a  successor, 
until  25th  April,  1749,  when  it  was  laid  prostrate."  The  sills  for 
a  new  Meeting  House  were  laid  May  8,  1749  and  the  steeple 
raised  on  August  22  following.  The  edifice  was  forty  feet  wide 
and  fifty-seven  long  and  stood  north  to  south  parallel  with  the 
burying  ground.  The  steeple  stood  at  the  north  end. 

Ebenezer  Gay,  Jr.,  became  his  father's  assistant  and  succeeded 
him,  being  ordained  March  6,  1793.  His  active  pastorate  con- 
tinued until  1826,  and  he  remained  senior  pastor  until  his  death 
in  1837;  father  and  son  together,  therefore,  lacked  but  four  years 
of  serving  the  church  a  full  century.  Ebenezer  Gay,  Jr.,  kept  a 
school  in  the  Gay  Manse  in  the  chamber  over  the  kitchen  and 
in  the  small  chamber  adjoining  was  kept  the  town  library. 

Joel  Mann  was  installed  as  active  pastor  of  the  church  in  1826 
but  was  dismissed  in  1829,  and  was  succeeded  by  Henry  Robin- 
son whose  pastorate  ended  the  year  in  which  Ebenezer  Gay  Jr. 
died.  The  fourth  church  edifice,  the  one  for  the  past  fifty  years 
serving  as  the  freight  house  at  the  railroad  station,  was  built 
in  1835.  Asahel  C.  Washburn  was  installed  in  1838  and  was 
followed  by  John  R.  Miller  in  1853. 

Walter  Barton  became  pastor  in  1869  and  the  present  church 
edifice  was  dedicated  just  previous  to  the  Bi-Centennial  cele- 
bration at  which  Mr.  Barton  delivered  the  address  of  welcome. 
He  closed  his  pastorate  in  1875  anc^  his  successors  in  the  past 
fifty  years  have  been:  William  R.  Eastman,  Charles  Symington, 
Hiram  L.  Kelsey,  Archibald  McCord,  David  W.  Goodale,  Dan- 
iel R.  Kennedy  Jr.,  and  Victor  L.  Greenwood. 

West  Suffield  Congregational  Church 

From  the  settlement  of  the  town  until  the  beginning  of  the 
ministry  of  the  first  Ebenezer  Gay,  about  seventy  years,  there 
was  no  other  church  society.  During  the  last  years  of  the  success- 
ful ministry  of  Mr.  Devotion,  however,  agitation  for  a  division  of 
the  church  society  and  the  formation  of  the  West  Congrega- 
tional society  began.  It  appears  to  have  had  a  combination  of 
causes.  Extensive  revivals  occurred  throughout  New  England 
and  many  new  members  had  been  added  to  the  Suifield  church. 
The  second  Meeting  House  had  been  built  in  1701  and  accord- 


I4O  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

ing  to  the  record  of  the  town  vote  was  forty  feet  square,  but  it 
may  be  presumed  that  pew  room  had  become  a  problem,  if  not 
a  cause  of  dissatisfaction.  The  seating  of  the  people  in  the  old 
New  England  Meeting  House  was  always  a  delicate  and  diffi- 
cult matter.  "Our  Puritan  forefathers,"  says  Mrs.  Alice  Morse 
Earle,  "though  bitterly  denouncing  all  forms  and  ceremonies, 
were  great  respecters  of  persons  and  in  nothing  was  the  regard 
for  wealth  and  position  more  fully  shown  than  in  designating  the 
seat  in  which  each  person  should  sit  during  public  worship." 
Whittier  wrote  of  this  custom: 

"  In  the  goodly  house  of  worship,  where  in  order 

due  and  fit, 
As  by  public  vote  directed,  classed  and  ranked 

the  people  sit; 
Mistress  first  and  goodwife  after,  clerkly  squire 

before  the  clown, 
From  the  brave  coat,  lace  embroidered,  to  the 

gray  frock  shading  down." 

In  the  records  of  the  town  meetings  are  many  indications 
that  the  seating  was  causing  trouble.  When  the  question  of 
division  was  first  brought  up  in  town  meeting  in  August  1735 
it  failed  to  pass  and  at  a  meeting  three  years  later  a  majority, 
strongly  against  the  division,  voted  to  build  a  new  Meeting 
House  sixty  feet  in  length  and  forty  feet  in  breadth,  the  stated 
purpose  being  to  accommodate  the  larger  number  and  avoid  a 
division. 

Meantime  certain  people  in  the  west  part  of  the  town  peti- 
tioned the  General  Court  at  Boston  to  be  set  off  as  a  separate 
society  and  the  town  appointed  Joseph  King  as  an  agent  to  go  to 
Boston  and  oppose  it  on  the  ground  that  the  "low  circumstances 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Suffield  rendered  them  incapable  to  main- 
tain two  ministers  and  two  Meeting  Houses."  The  dispute  was 
later  referred  to  a  committee  consisting  of  John  Stoddard  of 
Northampton,  William  Pitkin  of  Hartford  and  William  Pyn- 
chon,  Jr.  of  Springfield.  They  met  in  Suffield  and  decided  that 
the  West  society  should  be  set  off  and  the  General  Court  incor- 
porated it  January  I,  1740.  At  this  time  the  town  had  about 
two  hundred  families.  The  West  Suffield  church  was  organized 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  14! 

November  10,  1743.  The  first  Meeting  House  was  erected  the 
next  year;  the  second  in  1795  where  the  present  edifice  now 
stands;  the  present  building  was  dedicated  in  1840 — the  same 
year  as  the  present  Second  Baptist  church.  It  was  a  period  of 
church  building  in  Suffield,  the  First  Congregational  society 
having  built  five  years  before,  1835;  the  present  First  Baptist 
church  was  built  six  years  later,  1846. 

The  first  minister  at  West  Suffield,  John  Graham,  served  from 
1746  to  1796  and  he  was  succeeded  by  one  of  the  noted  ecclesias- 
tical figures  of  the  period,  Daniel  Waldo,  a  contemporary  in 
Suffield  of  Ebenezer  Gay,  Jr.  He  was  born  in  Windham  and  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  War;  taken  prisoner  and  confined 
in  the  sugar  house  New  York  where  he  was  treated  with  great 
cruelty.  He  graduated  from  Yale  in  1788  and  became  pastor  in 
West  Suffield  in  1792,  serving  eighteen  years.  For  a  period  after- 
wards he  was  a  missionary  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  State 
and  later  was  settled  in  other  churches  in  New  England.  In  1855 
at  the  age  of  ninety-three  he  was  chaplain  of  the  United  States 
House  of  Representatives;  He  died  in  1864,  lacking  a  few  weeks 
of  being  one  hundred  and  two  years  of  age.  He  revisited  Suffield 
occasionally  in  his  long  career  and  preached  his  last  sermon 
shortly  before  his  death. 

His  successors  in  the  early  period  were  Joseph  Mix,  1814-29; 
John  A.  Hemstead,  1832-33;  Erastus  Clapp,  1833-39;  Benjamin 
I.  Lane,  1839-41;  Joseph  W.  Sessions,  1843-52;  Henry  J.  Lamb, 
1853-57;  Henry  Cooley,  1857-64;  C.  B.  Dye,  1864-65;  William 
\Vright,  1866-69;  and  Stephen  Harris,  1869-71.  The  pastors 
of  the  past  fifty  years  have  been  Augustus  Alvord,  Austin  Gard- 
iner, John  Elderkin,  E.  G.  Stone,  N.  A.  Prince,  C.  B.  Strong,  J. 
B.  Doolittle,  J.  B.  Smith,  S.  A.  Apraham,  William  William  and 
William  A.  Linnaberry. 

First  Baptist  Church 

Until  1769  these  Congregational  Societies  of  Suffield  and  West 
Suffield  were  of  the  Church  of  the  Standing  Order  under  which 
the  ecclesiastical  and  civic  affairs  were  identical.  All  persons 
were  taxed  for  the  church  as  well  as  for  state.  The  civil  power 
collected  the  taxes  for  the  church  by  restraint  and,  under  the  laws 
of  both  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  no  person  could  form 


142  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

a  new  church  within  the  colonies  without  consent  of  the  General 
Court  and  of  the  neighboring  churches. 

But  this  effort  for  conformity  became  an  increasing  cause  of 
dissension  and  was  the  ultimate  undoing  of  the  Standing  Order. 
So-called  "New  Lights"  arose  in  the  ministry  and,  when  a  min- 
ister was  disbarred,  that  portion  of  his  flock  which  agreed  or 
sympathized  with  him  left  the  church  with  him.  Meantime 
Baptists,  who  had  been  exiled  from  England,  had  come  to  this 
country  with  the  seed  of  their  persuasion  and,  except  in  Rhode 
Island,  the  colonies  made  strict  laws  against  them.  Up  to  the 
early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  they  were  banished  from 
Massachusetts,  and  it  was  not  until  1729  that  Connecticut 
loosened  the  tie  between  church  and  state  so  that  the  Baptists 
were  not  taxed  for  the  support  of  the  Standing  Order,  which, 
however,  continued  to  collect  for  its  own  support  taxes  from  all 
who  belonged  to  no  church.  The  Massachusetts  laws  still  con- 
tinued rigorous.  In  1747  Suffield  succeeded  in  detaching  itself 
from  Massachusetts  and  came  under  Connecticut  jurisdiction, 
but  it  was  not  until  1769  that  the  First  Baptist  church  in  Suffield 
and  the  first  in  Hartford  county  was  organized,  with  three  con- 
stituent members,  Joseph  Hastings,  Mrs.  Mary  Hanchett  and 
Mrs.  Theodosia  Bronson.  Joseph  Hastings  was  a  son  of  Deacon 
Thomas  who  settled  at  Watertown,  Mass.,  and  went  to  North- 
ampton where  Joseph  was  born  and  whence  he  removed  to 
Suffield,  settling  in  the  west  part  of  the  town,  He  became  an 
elder  and  exhorter  in  the  Separate  or  New  Light  movement  in 
1750,  and  organized  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  1769,  or  almost 
one  hundred  years  after  the  settlement  of  the  town. 

The  first  Meeting  House  was  erected  in  1777  on  the  triangu- 
lar green  midway  between  the  present  residences  of  Albert  and 
G.  D.  Austin.  The  second  was  erected  on  the  site  of  the  present 
structure  in  1793  and  was  used  for  fifty  years.  The  present 
church  was  built  in  1846.  The  most  notable  of  the  pastors  have 
been  Joseph  Hastings  and  his  son  John,  who  together  served 
the  church  for  forty  years;  Asahel  Morse,  pastor  for  twenty 
years  and  a  resident  of  Suffield  for  the  remainder  of  his  life; 
James  L.  Hodge,  who  after  three  years  service  became  a  promi- 
nent preacher  in  Brooklyn;  A.  M.  Torbet,  who  led  the  church  in 
a  revival  and  an  increase  of  membership  requiring  the  larger 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  143 

house  of  worship  then  built,  and  who  later  became  a  pioneer 
preacher  in  Minnesota;  Erastus  Andrews,  who  served  for  a  con- 
siderable period  and  was  the  father  of  Dr.  E.  Benjamin  Andrews, 
who  after  service  in  the  Civil  War  was  graduated  from  Brown 
University,  became  principal  of  the  Connecticut  Literary  Insti- 
tution, later  President  of  Brown  University,  chancellor  of  the 
University  of  Nebraska,  and  one  of  the  American  commissioners 
to  the  International  Monetary  Conference  in  Brussels  in  1892; 
and  Charles  M.  Willard,  1867-72.  Five  former  pastors  are  still 
living,  F.  T.  Latham,  1880-83;  J-  G.  Ward,  1884-7;  Harvey 
Linsley  1895-1902;  A.  R.  McDougall  1905-6;  and  C.  L.  Buck- 
ingham 1913-86.  Jesse  F.  Smith,  a  teacher  at  the  Suffield  School, 
is  the  present  acting  pastor. 

Second  Baptist  Church 

Four  other  churches  may  be  said  to  have  grown  directly  from 
the  First  Baptist  church  in  Suffield — the  Baptist  churches  in 
Southwick  and  in  Westfield,  the  Second  Baptist  in  Suffield,  and 
the  First  Baptist  in  Hartford.  To  the  Suffield  church  in  its  early 
days  came  several  families  from  Southwick,  Westfield,  Bloom- 
field,  Windsor  and  other  neighboring  towns.  It  is  said  that 
Deacon  Bolles  of  Hartford  used  to  walk  the  eighteen  miles  to 
Suffield  every  Sunday,  returning  after  the  afternoon  service.  In 
1789  he  invited  his  Baptist  neighbors  to  his  house  and  the  next 
year  they  organized  into  the  First  Baptist  church  in  Hartford. 

Some  years  later  a  little  company  of  Baptists,  fifteen  in  num- 
ber, living  in  the  eastern  part  of  Suffield  met  in  the  Feather 
Street  school  house  and  considered  the  convenience  of  a  Baptist 
church  nearer  to  them.  With  them  met  in  council  on  their  invi- 
tation elders  and  brethren  from  the  First  Baptist  church,  and 
from  West  Springfield,  Wilbraham,  Windsor  and  Groton.  Thus 
the  Second  Baptist  church  was  established  May  22,  1805.  Be- 
fore the  close  of  the  year,  thirty-three  were  added  to  the  original 
number.  For  three  or  four  years  the  people  met  in  the  school 
houses  of  the  different  districts — Feather  Street,  Boston  Neck 
and  South  Street.  They  had  no  pastor  but  were  supplied  from 
other  churches. 

Meantime  over  $2,000  had  been  subscribed  for  buying  a  lot 
and  erecting  a  Meeting  House,  but  there  was  delay  in  getting 


144  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

title  to  the  lot,  and  the  tradition  is  that  the  members  of  the 
Standing  Order  threw  various  obstacles  in  the  way,  even  the 
mutilation  and  hiding  of  timber  collected  for  the  erection  of  the 
building,  which  was  located  where  Charles  L.  Spencer  now 
lives  and  was  dedicated  between  1808  and  1810.  The  rising 
revolt  against  the  union  of  church  and  state  tended  to  increase 
the  membership  of  the  new  society,  and  not  long  afterward  the 
change  came  in  the  Connecticut  Constitution  and  full  liberty 
was  granted  to  other  denominations. 

"For  eleven  years,"  says  the  historian  of  the  Centennial  of 
the  church  in  1905,  "the  congregation  met  on  Sabbath  morning 
in  this  Meeting  House,  called  in  derision  the  old  barn,  the  furni- 
ture of  which  consisted  of  rude  slab  benches,  and  a  few  chairs 
brought  in  for  the  aged  women  from  the  dwellings  of  friendly 
neighbors.  The  carpenter's  bench  was  still  standing  in  the  rear 
of  the  minister's  desk;  no  stoves  but  foot  stoves.  Not  until  the 
year  1819  were  pews  put  in,  galleries  constructed  and  a  pulpit 
placed  against  the  wall."  Thus  it  remained  without  modifica- 
tion till  supplanted  by  the  present  church  in  1840,  on  a  more 
central  site. 

The  first  pastor  was  Caleb  Green,  assistant  to  John  Hastings 
of  the  First  church.  He  was  succeeded  in  1815  by  Bennett 
Pepper  of  Southwick,  who  was  a  revivalist  and  baptised  many 
as  a  result  of  two  revivals,  but  he  was  later  deposed.  From  1823 
to  1825  were  three  brief  ministries  and  in  the  latter  year,  Calvin 
Philleo  began  his  labors.  He  was  a  man  of  many  remarkable 
parts,  if  somewhat  eccentric,  and  was  an  earnest  revival  preacher. 
Under  his  preaching  Dwight  Ives,  a  young  man  of  seventeen 
and  later  to  become  identified  with  the  history  of  the  church 
more  than  any  other  man  before  him,  was  convicted  of  sin.  Mr. 
Philleo's  pastorate  continued  till  December  30,  1829. 

There  were  five  short  ministries  from  1829  to  1839  when 
Dwight  Ives  began  his  long  pastorate.  The  church  then  had  three 
hundred  and  ten  members.  During  the  first  twenty-five  years 
of  his  pastorate  there  were  six  extensive  revivals  and  the  total 
number  received  into  the  church  during  the  period  was  one 
thousand.  Dr.  Ives  continued  in  the  pastorate  nine  and  one 
half  years  longer,  resigning  in  1874  to  remove  to  Conway,  Mass. 
He  died  in  December  of  the  following  year.  The  pastors  serving 


First  Congregational  Church  Built  1869 


Boulder  Placed  on  Site  of  First  Meeting  House 
by  Sibbil  Dwight  Kent  Chapter,  D.  A.  R. 


First  Baptist  Church,  Zion's  Hill,  Built  1846 


Second  Baptist  Church,  Built  1840 


u 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  145 

since  1874  were  J.  R.  Stubbert,  B.  W.  Lockhart,  D.  B.  Reed, 
G.  F.  Genung,  R.  C.  Hull,  W.  A.  Smith  and  K.  C.  MacArthur. 
The  present  pastor  is  E.  Scott  Farley. 

West  Suffield  Methodist  Church 

Notwithstanding  the  act  of  the  Connecticut  General  Court 
of  1727  which  permitted  the  establishment  of  other  societies, 
it  was  not  until  after  several  Baptist  churches  existed  in  various 
parts  of  the  State  that  the  first  Methodist  Society  was  estab- 
lished in  Stratford,  Conn.  But  all  remained  weak  and  shared  in 
the  constant  grievances  of  dissenting  sects.  The  eventual  escape 
was  brought  about  coincidently  with  the  collapse  of  the  Federal 
party.  In  1816  the  Republican  party  that  Jefferson  fathered 
made  common  cause  with  the  dissenters  of  all  denominations, 
and  in  the  political  battles  fought  on  that  issue  in  1817  dissenters 
were  elected  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  State 
and  the  Republicans  had  a  two-thirds  majority  in  the  legislature. 
It  at  once  put  all  sects  on  an  equality  as  to  taxation  and  in  the 
next  year,  at  a  convention  in  Hartford,  was  drafted  the  Consti- 
tution of  1818,  under  which  religious  profession  and  worship 
were  to  be  free  to  all,  and  no  sect  to  be  preferred  by  law.  Thus 
after  nearly  two  centuries  vanished  the  Standing  Order  and 
the  later  "prime  ancient  societies." 

How  radically  the  public  state  of  mind  changed  after  that  is 
plain  from  the  fact  that  the  first  sermon  preached  by  a  presiding 
elder  (if  not  by  any  Methodist  minister)  in  West  SufReld  was 
preached  in  the  Congregational  church  there  in  1832,  and  the 
Methodist  society  dated  its  beginning  from  that  event.  The 
men  instrumental  in  its  organization  were  Gustavus  Austin, 
David  Hastings,  Horace  Tullar,  Curtis  Warner,  Warren  Case 
and  John  Johnson.  The  following  year,  1833,  Charles  Chittenden, 
a  revivalist,  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  society  by  the  New  York 
East  conference  and  he  served  two  years.  He  was  followed  by 
Cephas  Brainard,  and  with  one  exception,  1854,  the  conference 
supplied  the  ministers  throughout  its  history.  In  December  1839 
the  first  church  edifice  and  the  one  that  remained  throughout 
its  history  was  dedicated,  with  a  sermon  by  Rev.  Joseph  Law  of 
Hartford.  Up  to  that  time  the  services  had  been  held  in  school 
houses,  private  dwellings  and  barns. 


146  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

In  1856  during  the  pastorate  of  Frederick  Brown  the  first 
parsonage  was  built.  Before  that  a  house  built  in  1795  had  been 
in  use  and  in  that  house  in  1844  the  sculptor  Olin  Warner  was 
born  while  his  father  Levi  Warner  was  pastor.  In  accordance 
with  Methodist  practice  pastors  succeeded  each  other  in  brief 
ministries,  the  total  number  in  its  history  which  closed  in  1920 
with  the  disbanding  of  the  society  and  the  sale  of  the  church 
property,  being  forty-four.  The  families  identified  with  the 
society  have  died  off  rapidly  in  the  last  few  years  and  the  dis- 
banding of  the  society  became  necessary. 

Calvary  Episcopal  Church 

No  Episcopal  church  was  established  in  town  until  1865. 
After  services  had  been  held  for  about  two  months  there  was  a 
legally  warned  meeting  of  those  wishing  to  establish  a  church 
held  at  the  house  of  George  Williston  on  the  evening  of  August 
4  of  that  year.  Rev  Augustus  Jackson  was  chairman  and  Rob- 
ert E.  Pinney  secretary.  The  parish  was  duly  and  legally  organ- 
ized to  be  known  as  The  Episcopal  Society  of  Calvary  Church. 
Resolutions  of  organization  were  adopted  and  signed  by  Archi- 
bald Kinney,  Alfred  Owen,  Robert  E.  Pinney,  Timothy  W. 
Kinney,  S.  N.  Babcock  and  George  Williston.  At  this  meeting 
were  elected  as  officers  Archibald  Kinney,  Senior  Warden; 
Anson  Birge,  Junior  Warden;  George  Williston,  S.  N.  Babcock, 
Alfred  Owen,  Robert  E.  Pinney,  Timothy  Kinney,  Burdette 
Loomis,  and  Ashbel  Easton,  Vestrymen.  Rev.  Augustus  Jack- 
son was  chosen  Rector. 

At  the  same  time  it  was  decided  to  purchase  a  lot  for  the 
erection  of  a  church  and  to  circulate  a  paper  among  the  citizens 
of  Suffield  for  procuring  funds.  The  rector  stated  that  for  the 
present  he  desired  no  salary  and  it  was  decided  to  begin  regular 
services  in  the  Town  Hall.  Until  current  expenses  were  assured 
they  were  defrayed  by  the  Christian  Knowledge  society.  Mr. 
Jackson  resigned  his  connection  in  the  first  half  of  the  next  year, 
and  Rev.  George  E.  Lounsbury,  later  Governor  of  Connecticut, 
continued  services  in  Suffield  in  connection  with  St.  Andrews 
Parish  in  Thompsonville  until  April  1867.  Then  followed  Rev. 
Mr.  Pratt,  Rev.  Henry  Townsend  and  Rev.  Mr.  Walker. 

The  corner  stone  of  the  new  church  was  laid  May  1, 1871  when 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  147 

services  were  conducted  by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Williams  of  Con- 
necticut assisted  by  other  members  of  the  clergy,  and  the  work 
in  the  new  church  on  Bridge  Street  was  then  carried  to  comple- 
tion. The  present  Senior  Warden,  William  S.  Larkum  has  been 
treasurer  of  the  society  for  about  forty  years. 

Third  Baptist  Church 

The  Third  Baptist  Church  society  (colored)  was  organized 
as  a  mission  by  Rev.  David  H.  Drew  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  in 
1903,  and  meetings  were  held  in  the  Town  Hall.  Out  of  this  mis- 
sion the  church  was  organized  two  years  later  by  Rev.  R.  C. 
Hull,  pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  church,  and  Mr.  Drew  ac- 
cepted the  pastorate.  The  society  secured  a  lot  on  Kent  Avenue 
and  the  present  building  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $300x3  and 
dedicated  March  31,  1906.  At  this  time  $2400  of  the  total  cost 
had  been  paid. 

Mr.  Drew  remained  pastor  until  June,  1918  when  he  resigned 
leaving  the  church  free  from  debt  and  in  good  condition.  In  the 
following  August,  Daniel  W.  West  of  Alexandria,  Va.,  became 
pastor  and  remained  until  January,  1919,  when  Samuel  E.  Ellison 
of  Fairfield,  Conn.,  the  present  pastor  was  called.  Under  his 
pastorate  the  church  has  purchased  a  parsonage,  the  payment 
for  which  has  been  nearly  completed. 

Sacred  Heart  Church 

The  present  edifice  of  Sacred  Heart  church  was  dedicated  for 
Catholic  worship,  November  31,  1886.  The  preacher  on  that 
occasion  was  the  Rev.  Bernard  O'Reilly  Sheridan  of  Middletown, 
a  brother  of  Rev.  James  O'Reilly  Sheridan,  pastor  of  St.  Mary's, 
Windsor  Locks,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  Mission  Church,  as  it 
was  then  called.  The  first  lay  trustees  of  the  Mission  Church 
were  John  Barnett  and  Joseph  Roche  of  West  Suffield.  The 
church  property  was  purchased  in  1883  from  M.  J.  Sheldon  by 
the  Rev.  Michael  Kelley,  and  was  paid  for  in  a  short  time.  Un- 
til the  Mission  Church  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  resident  pastor, 
Mass  was  read  each  Sunday  by  one  of  the  priests  of  Windsor 
Locks.  The  Rev.  John  Creedon  was  the  last  pastor  of  Windsor 
Locks  to  exercise  jurisdiction  over  the  church.  The  first  resident 
pastor  was  Rev.  John  E.  Clark,  now  of  St.  Joseph's  Church, 
Willimantic.  At  the  beginning  of  his  pastorate  of  five  years  he 


148  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

built  and  furnished  the  rectory.  The  first  Mass  celebrated  by 
the  first  pastor  occurred  on  the  feast  of  All  Saints,  November  i, 
1913.  He  moved  into  the  rectory  October  I,  1914,  and  worked 
tirelessly  to  meet  the  spiritual  and  material  wants  of  his  people, 
leaving  behind  a  host  of  friends.  He  was  followed  by  the  Rev. 
James  O'Meara,  an  energetic  and  zealous  priest  whose  stay 
was  shortened  by  ill-health.  The  present  pastor,  Rev.  James  F. 
J.  Hennessey,  took  charge  June  22,  1919.  Educated  in  the  pub- 
lic and  parochial  schools  of  New  Haven,  graduating  from  Yale 
University  in  the  class  of  1898,  he  finished  his  training  for  the 
priesthood  at  St.  Bernard's  Theological  Seminary,  Rochester, 
New  York,  and  was  ordained  for  the  priesthood  by  Bishop  Mc- 
Quaid  in  that  city  June  14,  1902.  Before  coming  to  Suffield  he 
taught  in  the  diocesan  seminary,  St.  Thomas',  Hartford,  for  a 
few  years  was  engaged  in  pastoral  work  in  Hartford,  and  for 
twelve  years  was  assistant  pastor  in  Ansonia,  Conn. 

The  arrival  and  location  of  the  first  Catholic  family  in  the 
town  is  unknown.  The  first  Mass  in  Suffield  was  celebrated  in 
the  home  of  Patrick  Devine  of  Sheldon  Street  by  the  Rev. 
Michael  McAuley  in  1876.  Mass  was  also  read  in  the  home 
of  John  Gilligan  of  West  Suffield.  At  present  Mass  is  read  each 
Sunday  morning  at  8.30  and  10.30.  Henry  Roche  and  Jeremiah 
Dineen  are  the  lay  trustees  of  the  parish  corporation. 

St.  Joseph's 

Polish  residents  organized  the  St.  Joseph's  society  in  1905  and 
in  1912  purchased  from  New  York  owners  the  property  on  Main 
Street  consisting  of  a  residence  built  by  George  W.  Loomis  and 
other  buildings.  Father  Wladarz,  the  first  pastor,  organized  the 
parish  in  1915  and  for  a  brief  period  held  services  in  Sacred 
Heart  church.  In  that  year  St.  Joseph's  was  incorporated  and 
acquired  the  church  property  from  the  society  and  the  first 
services  were  held  in  the  present  church  on  Easter  Sunday  1915. 
After  three  years,  Father  Wladarz  was  succeeded  by  the  present 
pastor,  Father  Bartkowski.  Since  1905  the  parish  has  grown  from 
a  small  number  to  about  fifteen  hundred  members.  The  present 
church  building  is  of  a  temporary  nature.  The  parish  expects 
to  erect  a  permanent  edifice  within  a  few  years,  and  has  ac- 
cumulated a  substantial  fund  for  that  purpose. 


Calvary  Episcopal  Church,  Built  1872 


all   I 

•  —  __...  ^       ^^w 


Third  Baptist  Church 


Sacred  Heart  Church  and  Rectory 


St.  Joseph's  Church  and  Rectory 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  149 

Public  Schools 

In  1696  Anthony  Austin  "with  great  reluctancy  and  aver- 
sion in  my  spirit"  became  the  first  schoolmaster  in  Suffield  for 
the  sum  of  twenty  pounds  a  year.  The  first  school  house  was 
built  by  the  town  eight  years  later  and  "was  20  foot  in  length, 
16  in  breadth  and  6  foot  stud,  made  warm  and  comfortable,  fitt 
for  to  keep  school  in."  It  stood  near  the  Meeting  House.  The 
second  school  house  was  built  by  the  town  in  1733.  A  committee 
was  appointed  "to  prefix  the  place  it  shall  be  set  on,  so  that  it 
shall  not  exceed  the  space  of  forty  rods  from  nor  within  ye  space 
of  ten  rods  of  ye  Meeting  House."  Its  dimensions  were  twenty- 
four  feet  in  length,  eighteen  feet  in  width  and  nine  feet  between 
joints.  Josiah  Sheldon  built  it,  receiving  therefor  one-half  or 
forty  pounds  in  money,  and  the  other  half  in  town  pay;  he  also 
had  the  old  school  house. 

When  the  town  was  divided  into  two  ecclesiastical  societies  in 
1740,  this  school  house  passed  from  the  town  to  the  First  Ec- 
clesiastical Society  and  in  1763  to  the  Center  School  district.  It 
appears  to  have  been  enlarged  and  to  have  served  for  the  dis- 
trict school  until  1797,  when  it  was  removed  to  the  corner  of  the 
Crooked  Lane  and  Thompsonville  road,  where  it  is  still  standing 
as  a  part  of  the  dwelling  house  of  Mr.  James  McCarl. 

The  third  school  house  at  the  center,  built  in  1797  and  costing 
$1333.34,  stood  upon  the  Common  nearly  in  front  of  the  Con- 
gregational Meeting  House.  There  is  no  picture  of  Suffield  as  it 
was  in  those  days,  but  from  what  is  known  the  picture  may  in  a 
measure  be  caught  by  the  imagination.  The  third  church  edifice 
was  one  of  rare  architectural  beauty  for  the  period,  and  its 
steeple  and  graceful  spire  at  the  north  end,  and  probably  about 
where  the  Congregational  chapel  now  stands,  was  much  admired. 
There  was  a  clock  dial  on  the  east  side  and  a  clock  of  which  men- 
tion is  made  elsewhere.  The  new  school  house  nearby  upon  the 
Common  had  a  stately  cupola  crowned  with  a  gilded  weather- 
cock, and  together  they  made  a  notable  civic  center  at  a  time 
when  Suffield  ranked  in  population  higher  than  most  towns  in 
the  valley,  and  not  very  far  below  Springfield  and  Hartford, 
each  of  which  then  had  but  little  over  5000  population.  Suffield 
had  about  250x3. 


I5O  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

To  the  north  of  the  church  and  facing  the  Common  was  the 
new  house  of  Timothy  Swan  (the  Mather  place);  further  north 
the  older  mansion  of  Gideon  Granger,  where  the  Middle  building 
of  the  SufReld  school  now  stands;  a  little  further  on  was  the 
Joseph  Pease  house,  which  many  remember  as  the  home  of  the 
late  Miss  Emily  Clark;  and  further  north  the  house  now  owned 
by  Mr.  K.  C.  Kulle.  Across  the  way  from  the  latter  was  the 
new  mansion  at  this  time  acquired  by  William  Gay.  The  Gay 
Manse,  though  much  older,  was  still  in  its  prime.  Luther  Loomis 
had  just  built  the  place  now  owned  by  the  Masonic  Lodge  and 
across  the  highway  to  Feather  Street  was  the  old  Archer  place, 
then  a  noted  tavern.  Across  the  Common  from  that  was  the 
Hatheway  place.  Other  substantial  houses,  if  not  so  new,  graced 
the  street  which  withal  was  one  of  the  finest  of  old  New  England 
centers  as  they  existed  in  those  days. 

This  third  school  house,  standing  thus  prominently  on  the 
Common,  was  a  two  story  building  with  two  rooms  above  the 
school  room  and  in  these,  by  the  courtesy  of  the  district,  the 
Connecticut  Literary  Institution  was  opened  in  1833.  The 
period  of  church  building  in  town  that  set  in  between  1835  and 
1840  somewhat  changed  the  aspect  of  the  center.  The  third 
church  building  and  its  beautiful  spire  gave  way  to  the  fourth, 
larger  but  less  notable  architecturally,  and  soon  after,  or  in 
1838,  the  school  building  was  moved  to  the  site  of  the  present 
Town  Hall,  and  a  basement  hall  put  in,  the  town  and  district 
being  joint  owners.  The  following  paragraph  from  the  district 
records  closes  its  history;  "Tuesday,  October  2,  1860,  two 
o'clock,  the  school  and  town  house  were  discovered  in  flames 
and  was  entirely  destroyed." 

The  fourth  school  house,  the  present  Town  Hall  building,  was 
built  upon  the  same  site  and  with  the  same  copartnership,  the 
school  rooms  occupying  the  lower  floor  with  the  hall  above. 
The  bricks  were  made  in  Sufneld  by  William  King.  The  town  ex- 
pended $7798.48,  and  the  district  about  one-half  as  much  addi- 
tional. 

The  first  action  in  relation  to  a  new  school  house  separate  and 
distinct  from  the  town  was  taken  June  22, 1889.  The  committee 
of  the  district  was  instructed  to  make  proposals  to  the  selectmen 
toward  selling  to  the  town  the  district  rights  in  the  building  and 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 


site.  After  various  legal  steps,  the  committee,  consisting  of 
William  L.  Loomis,  A.  Spencer  Jr.,  and  W.  S.  Knox,  sold  to  the 
town  the  district  interest  for  $3200,  possession  to  be  given  when 
the  district  secured  suitable  accommodations.  At  the  same 
meeting  a  district  committee,  consisting  of  George  Remington, 
George  F.  Kendall  and  Alfred  Spencer,  Jr.,  was  appointed  and 
instructed  to  secure  a  site  and  plans  and  erect  a  new  school 
house.  The  total  cost  of  the  new  building  on  Bridge  street  with 
site  was  about  $12,000. 

The  first  school  house  in  West  Sufneld  was  built  in  1750  and 
was  probably  the  third  in  the  town.  It  was  near  "the  southwest 
corner  of  Ireland  plain  where  the  road  comes  from  the  north 
between  that  and  the  Meeting  House."  In  1764  liberty  was 
given  several  persons  to  build  three  school  houses  to  accommo- 
date other  sections  of  the  precinct  and  soon  after  three  districts 
were  formed.  In  1768  a  second  school  house  was  built  in  the 
West  Center  district.  Mr.  Ellas  Harmon  was  the  first  school 
teacher  in  this  building.  Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  his 
eldest  son  Elias  removed  to  Mantua,  Ohio  as  land  agent  for 
Martin  Sheldon,  and  his  descendants  are  now  in  that  state.  In 
1803,  the  old  school  house  becoming  inadequate,  a  new  one  was 
built  on  the  south  side  of  the  highway  to  the  mountain.  This 
served  until  the  erection  of  the  present  commodious  modern 
building,  completed  in  1913  at  a  cost  of  about  $30,000. 

From  an  early  date  other  school  houses  were  built  to  accom- 
modate the  various  centers  of  settlement,  and  the  present  dis- 
tricts —  seven  in  the  first  precinct  and  four  in  the  second, 
took  practically  their  present  form  early  in  the  last  century. 
These  district  schools  furnished  the  primary  basis  for  many 
well  educated  men,  though  education  was  a  more  difficult 
process  than  now.  In  1804  the  first  district  required  persons 
sending  scholars  "to  furnish  for  each  scholar  one  quarter  of  a 
cord  of  three  foot  wood  or  pay  in  money  at  the  rate  of  two  dollars 
per  cord"  and,  on  failure  to  do  either,  their  children  were  de- 
barred from  attending  school.  Some  years  later  twenty-five 
cents  for  each  scholar  was  required  to  pay  for  wood. 

Until  1898  the  schools  of  the  town  continued  to  be  managed 
under  this  district  system.  The  town,  annually  made  an  ap- 
propriation to  the  several  districts,  about  $6000,  and  it  was 


152  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

divided  according  to  the  number  of  teachers  employed.  This 
was  about  enough  to  pay  the  wages  of  the  teachers,  and  all  other 
expenses  were  carried  in  district  taxes. 

To  avoid  the  expense  of  laying  two  taxes,  and  to  gain  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  more  economical  and  uniform  system  for  both  the 
schools  and  the  buildings  the  town  system  was  inaugurated  in 
1898.  The  number  of  school  children  enumerated  fifty  years 
ago  was  about  600  and  it  is  now  about  950;  the  number  of 
teachers  has  increased  from  fourteen  to  nineteen.  Under  the  old 
system  there  were  no  grades;  now  there  are  eight.  All  the  grades 
above  the  fifth  are  now  at  the  First  Center  and  Second  Center 
district  buildings,  and  the  pupils  of  the  higher  grades  in  the 
other  districts  are  daily  transported  to  the  two  centers. 

Until  1897  there  was  no  free  high  school.  Scholars-  seeking  a 
secondary  education  usually  went  to  the  Connecticut  Literary 
Institution  paying  a  tuition  of  about  $30  a  year.  A  state  law  re- 
quired towns  to  establish  high  schools  or  pay  tuition  for  such  as 
attended  high  schools  in  other  places,  and  Suffield  voted  in  1897 
to  pay  the  tuition  of  all  Suffield  pupils  at  the  Connecticut  Lit- 
erary Institution.  Under  the  old  system  the  town  supervision  of 
schools  was  in  the  hands  of  a  Board  of  School  Visitors  who 
elected  committees  to  examine  teachers,  grant  them  certificates 
to  teach,  visit  the  several  schools  during  the  year,  and  criticize 
the  teachers'  work.  The  present  system  is  managed  by  a  School 
Committee  of  nine  members,  serving  without  pay,  and  annually 
electing  a  chairman,  secretary,  treasurer  and  a  superintendent 
of  schools.  When  first  organized  under  this  system  in  1898  the 
Committee  chose  one  of  its  number  to  act  as  superintendent  and 
the  late  Clinton  Spencer  was  so  chosen  from  1898  to  1904.  Then 
a  joint  district  was  formed  with  Windsor  Locks,  and  Daniel 
Howard  was  appointed  superintendent,  each  town  paying  one- 
third  of  the  salary,  and  the  State  one-third.  This  plan  continued 
till  1910  when  this  union  was  dissolved  and  a  state  supervisor 
was  employed  as  superintendent,  as  by  law,  towns  with  less 
than  twenty  teachers  were  entitled  to  a  supervisor  paid  by  the 
State.  In  this  capacity  N.  Searle  Light  served  from  1910  to 
1915,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  the  present  supervisor,  Harold 
B.  Chapman.  In  1905  the  town  began  to  furnish  free  text  books 
and  supplies  to  all  pupils  in  the  public  schools. 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  153 

Suffield  School 

In  1821,  or  three  years  after  religious  freedom  was  constitu- 
tionally established  in  Connecticut,  the  Baptist  Education  Soci- 
ety was  organized  to  meet  the  necessity  of  training  young  men 
for  the  ministry  in  that  denomination.  It  was  proposed  to  found 
an  academy,  and  it  was  offered  to  that  locality  that  would  sub- 
scribe the  largest  amount  of  money.  For  a  long  time  interest 
was  only  general,  but  later  a  rivalry  developed  between  Bristol 
and  Suffield  and  under  the  active  leadership  of  Martin  Sheldon, 
nearly  $5000  was  subscribed  by  the  people  of  Suffield.  The  list 
of  original  contributors  is  now  in  the  Sheldon  historical  collec- 
tion in  the  Kent  Memorial  Library. 

The  Connecticut  Baptist  Literary  Institution  was  opened  in 
1833  in  the  upper  room  of  the  district  school  building,  which 
stood  on  the  park  in  front  of  the  Congregational  church,  and 
steps  were  soon  taken  to  secure  a  site  for  school  buildings.  The 
place  chosen  was  the  home  lot  of  Sergeant  Samuel  Kent,  a  set- 
tler in  1676.  It  had  later  passed  to  Joseph  Pease,  whose  daughter 
married  Gideon  Granger,  who  was  postmaster-general  in  Jeffer- 
son's administration  and  who  had  moved  to  New  York.  The 
Granger  Mansion,  palatial  in  its  day,  stood  on  the  site  when 
it  passed  to  the  Baptist  Education  society,  and  for  a  long  period 
the  house  was  occupied  by  the  principals  of  the  school.  The 
Old  South  building  was  erected  in  1834,  the  first  story  of  Con- 
necticut stone  and  the  three  upper  stories  of  brick.  It  had  two 
entrances  running  through  from  front  to  rear,  with  class  rooms 
on  the  north  and  south  ends  of  this  first  story  and  a  large  room 
in  the  center,  at  first  used  for  chapel  and  later  for  a  classroom. 
It  contained  twenty-four  stove-heated  rooms  for  teachers  and 
students,  and  back  of  the  building  was  a  long  frame  woodshed, 
where  the  students  worked  up  their  fuel  with  bucksaws.  Under 
such  requirements  no  gymnasium  was  needed  or  thought  of. 
In  the  cupola  of  the  Old  South  was  placed  a  bell  which  rang 
regularly  for  over  sixty  years  for  classes  as  they  came  and  went. 
It  is  now  preserved  in  the  tower  of  the  North  building  but  is 
seldom  rung,  having  yielded  long  since  to  automatic  electric 
bells. 

The  second  period  of  the  school's  history  began  in  1843  when 


154  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

the  trustees  decided  to  add  a  ladies'  department.  The  word 
Baptist  had  meantime  been  dropped  from  the  name  which  be- 
came familiar  throughout  the  State  as  the  Connecticut  Literary 
Institution.  A  new  structure  seventy-five  feet  long  and  thirty- 
seven  wide,  with  three  stories  above  the  basement,  and  including 
a  kitchen  and  dining  room,  was  built  north  of  the  old  Granger 
House  and  completed  in  1845.  It  was  a  period  of  rapid  growth 
and  the  number  of  pupils  ranged  between  two  hundred  and 
three  hundred.  In  1851  the  prosperity  of  the  co-educational 
school  called  for  more  room  and  the  Middle  building  was  erected. 
The  old  Granger  mansion  was  moved  back  to  the  place  it  now 
occupies  and  has  served  various  purposes  in  the  seventy  years 
that  have  elapsed.  Recently  it  has  been  converted  into  a  barn 
to  house  the  dairy  herd  with  which  the  school  is  now  equipped 
for  its  own  milk  supply. 

The  period  of  the  first  remarkable  growth  of  the  school, 
1843-70,  was  practically  coincident  with  the  long  and  successful 
pastorate  of  Dr.  Dwight  Ives  in  the  Second  Baptist  church. 
The  principals  of  the  period  were  Charles  C.  Burnett,  William 
W.Woodbury,  Hiram  A.  Pratt,  Franklin  B.  Gamwell,  E.  P.  Bond 
and  E.  Benjamin  Andrews.  As  a  co-educational  school  it  was  at 
the  height  of  its  influence  and  prestige  in  the  decade  after  the 
Civil  War,  and  in  the  late  sixties  and  early  seventies  had  a  gal- 
axy of  able  teachers  well  remembered  by  the  older  surviving 
graduates;  besides  Dr.  Andrews,  there  were  Dr.  J.  M.  English, 
Dr.  M.  M.  Johnson  and  Edward  F.  Vose. 

Soon  after  the  bi-centennial  celebration  of  the  town,  the 
trustees  considered  plans  for  additional  buildings,  but  March  6, 
1872  the  ladies' building  was  burned.  In  six  days  the  trustees 
voted  to  rebuild  and  the  present  North  Building  was  erected  at 
a  cost  of  $75,000,  and  was  first  occupied  in  1873. 

In  the  following  years  the  institution  suffered  more  and  more 
from  the  competition  of  the  growing  high  schools  of  the  cities, 
and  from  other  causes  similarly  affecting  all  such  academies. 
But  the  educational  standards  at  Suffield  were  fairly  well  main- 
tained under  the  principals  of  the  period — J.  A.  Shores,  Judge 
Martin  H.  Smith,  Rev.  Walter  Scott  and  H.  L.  Thompson.  In 
1899,  toward  the  end  of  a  period  of  accumulating  financial  dis- 
couragement, the  Old  South  building  and  its  site  were  sold  to 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  155 

the  town  for  the  location  of 'the  Kent  Memorial  Library.  Under 
the  principalship  of  H.  L.  Thompson  also,  the  use  of  the  Old 
Middle  was  discontinued,  and  the  change  was  made  to  a  boys' 
school,  housed  entirely  in  the  North  building. 

At  this  critical  period  Mr.  Ralph  K.  Bearce  became  principal, 
the  late  Charles  C.  Bissell  of  Suffield,  chairman  of  the  executive 
committee,  and  Rev.  Raymond  Maplesden  was  employed  as 
field  secretary  to  secure  boys  and  promote  the  financial  support 
of  the  institution.  It  was  a  period  of  transition,  doubts  and 
difficulties,  but  also  of  the  beginning  of  a  larger  growth.  The 
restoration  of  the  Old  Middle  building  for  class  rooms  and  dor- 
mitories became  a  necessity  to  provide  enough  boarding  pupils 
to  make  a  good  school  self-supporting,  and  a  fund  of  $50,000 
was  raised,  of  which  the  people  of  Suffield  contributed  about 
two-thirds.  At  about  the  same  time  the  school  became  inter- 
denominational, the  control  wholly  passing  to  the  chartered  and 
self-perpetuating  board  of  trustees.  The  Old  Middle  was  refin- 
ished  to  be  rededicated  in  1908  at  the  time  of  the  celebration  of 
the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  institution. 

This  occasion,  coincident  with  the  annual  Commencement, 
was  largely  attended  by  old  graduates  and  friends  of  the  C.  L.  I. 
The  Commencement  sermon  was  preached  by  Dr.  Rockwell 
Harmon  Potter  of  the  First  Congregational  church  of  Hartford, 
then  a  member  and  later  a  president  of  the  board  of  trustees. 
On  Tuesday,  June  i6th,  Dr.  William  G.  Fennell,  pastor  of  the 
Asylum  Avenue  Baptist  church  of  Hartford,  of  the  class  of  1880, 
delivered  the  historical  address.  A  poem  by  Prof.  William  G. 
Hastings  of  Brown  University  and  the  class  of  1899  was  read. 
Henry  B.  Russell,  president  of  the  Alumni  Association,  class  of 
1877,  presided  at  the  alumni  dinner,  which  was  followed  by  the 
exercises  of  the  dedication  of  the  Middle  Building,  Dr.  M.  M. 
Johnson,  president  of  the  board  of  trustees,  presiding.  Dr.  E. 
Benjamin  Andrews,  chancelor  of  the  University  of  Nebraska  and 
the  former  principal,  delivered  the  commencement  address  at  the 
Second  Baptist  church  the  following  day.  The  proceedings  were 
printed  by  the  Alumni  Association  and  copies  are  preserved 
in  the  Kent  Memorial  Library. 

About  two  years  later  Principal  Bearce  went  to  the  Powder 
Point  School  as  headmaster  and  Dr.  Hobart  G.  Truesdell,  who 


156  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

had  come  to  the  faculty  from  Mercersburg  academy,  became 
headmaster  at  Suffield.  Under  his  management  the  school  rap- 
idly advanced  to  its  present  high  prestige  among  the  secondary 
schools  of  the  country.  The  equipment  has  been  steadily  in- 
creased, the  educational  standards  raised,  and  the  attendance 
of  boarding  students  increased  to  the  present  capacity  of  about 
one  hundred  and  ten  boys,  with  about  an  equal  number  of  town 
pupils,  for  whom  the  town  pays  tuition.  The  curriculum  has 
been  extended,  the  faculty  increased  in  number  and  strengthened 
in  quality,  some  military  features  have  been  added,  a  new  gym- 
nasium built  and  equipped,  an  extensive  farm  plant  developed 
for  the  special  supply  of  the  school  and  many  improvements 
of  various  kinds  have  been  made  in  the  buildings,  equipment 
and  grounds.  During  the  period  another  fund  of  $50,000  was 
raised,  the  Suffield  people  and  'friends  elsewhere  contribut- 
ing generously.  In  1912  it  appeared  that  the  old  name,  Con- 
necticut Literary  Institution,  was  creating  some  misappre- 
hension where  its  actual  character  as  a  secondary  school  was 
not  well  known,  and  the  name  was  changed  to  Suffield  School, 
the  old  familiar  monogram,  C.L.I.,  being  preserved  as  a  school 
emblem. 

It  recently  became  apparent  that  a  still  larger  extension  of 
facilities  would  be  needed,  and  it  was  decided  to  accept  the  bene- 
fits of  the  educational  extension  planned  by  the  Baptist  denomi- 
nation, which  with  others,  was  raising  large  sums  to  meet  the 
problems  of  the  future.  This  benefit  includes  $150,000  for  en- 
dowment, and  other  special  purposes,  and  $50,000  for  a  new 
dormitory  for  fifty  boys,  the  object  being  to  provide  education 
for  a  class  of  boys  who  can  not  afford  to  pay  the  regular  tui- 
tional  charges.  In  addition  the  Connecticut  Baptist  Convention 
is  to  annually  provide  a  fund  of  $2500  for  scholarships,  or  other 
use  in  extending  educational  advantages  to  worthy  but  poor 
boys.  Plans  for  these  and  other  extensions  are  now  being  worked 
out.  The  management  of  the  school  is  lodged  as  before  in  the 
Board  of  Trustees  which  is  self-perpetuating.  Mr.  Edward  A. 
Fuller  of  Suffield,  who  has  been  a  generous  worker  for  and  donor 
to  the  school,  was  chairman  of  the  board  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  and  the  chairman  of  the  executive  committee  is  Mr. 
Samuel  R.  Spencer  of  Suffield. 


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SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  157 

Libraries 

Tradition  has  it  that  "the  town  library"  was  kept  in  the  Gay 
Manse  in  a  room  adjoining  that  in  which  Ebenezer  Gay  kept  his 
school  and  prepared  young  men  for  college.  A  few  books  left  by 
Ebenezer  Gay  are  now  in  the  Kent  Memorial  Library,  in  which 
also  are  seventy-nine  books  bearing  this  inscription  with  the 
date  1791:  "This  book  belongs  to  Suffield  Library  and  by  the 
regulation  of  said  Library  it  is  to  be  returned  to  the  librarian 
on  the  first  Tuesday  of  Jan.,  Mar.,  May,  July,  Sept.,  at  or  be- 
fore i  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  on  said  date.  The  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  proprietors  to  be  the  next  Thursday  after  the  first 
Tuesday  in  Sept.  at  I  o'clock  in  the  afternoon." 

A  subscription  library  was  started  in  West  Suffield  in  1812, 
and  its  records  with  the  names  of  the  subscribers  were  left  among 
Mr.  H.  S.  Sheldon's  papers.  The  quaint  but  graceful  preamble 
to  the  subscription  and  the  record  is  as  follows: 

"It  has  ever  been  considered  that  the  Reading  of  usefull  and 
instructing  Books  has  a  peculiar  effect  in  civilizing  Society  and 
harmonizing  the  mind  of  man,  and  likewise  filling  up  those  lei- 
sure hours  with  useful  studies,  which  otherwise  might  be  devoted 
to  vanity  and  idleness.  How  important  must  appear  to  every 
intelligent  mind  the  necessity  of  using  all  the  means  in  our  power 
to  increase  (as  far  as  consistent  with  interest)  procure  and  dis- 
tribute such  useful  instructors  to  society.  For  extending  this 
purpose  in  an  economical  way  it  has  been  thought  advisable  to 
form  a  subscription  for  a  general  library,  for  the  acomplishment 
of  which  we  the  subscribers  have  obligated  ourselves  to  take  the 
number  of  shares  annexed  to  our  names,  and  each  share  is  to  be 
Two  Dollars." 

The  first  subscriber  was  Charles  Denison  who  became  clerk  of 
the  organization.  There  were  forty-three  original  subscribers, 
some  of  the  shares  being  later  transferred  to  others.  Among  the 
subscribers  were  Calvin,  Ozias,  Alexander,  Israel,  Isaac  and 
Deborah  Harmon,  Eli  and  Chauncey  Warner,  John  and  Simeon 
Spencer,  Arastus  and  Eli  Sheldon,  John,  Enos,  Anna,  Oliver 
and  David  Hanchett,  Eliakim,  William  and  Isaac  Pomeroy, 
Benajah  and  Plinney  Owen,  James,  and  Reuben  Loomis,  Isaac 
and  Eliza  Graham.  The  first  meeting  was  held  in  Col.  Thaddeus 


158  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

Leavitt's  store  March  23,  1812  and  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  draw  up  a  constitution,  which  was  done.  The  first  article  pro- 
vided that  it  should  be  entitled  and  called  "The  Center  Library 
in  Suffield"  and  there  was  a  further  subscription  to  purchase  a 
case  to  hold  the  seventy-six  volumes  which  were  bought  with  the 
$86  raised.  The  faded  and  somewhat  mutilated  paper  giving  the 
list  of  the  books  indicates  that  about  thirty-five  of  the  volumes 
were  Rollin's  Histories. 

Isaac  R.  Graham  was  chosen  librarian.  From  the  record  of 
the  transfer  of  the  shares  it  appears  that  the  share  of  Arastus 
Sheldon  was  transferred  to  Thaddeus  Lyman,  who  was  chosen 
clerk  of  the  organization  at  the  annual  meeting  in  1813.  After 
1815  the  records  were  imperfectly  kept  and  there  is  little  to  indi- 
cate its  later  history  or  end. 

The  Connecticut  Literary  Institution  began  to  collect  books 
for  its  use  soon  after  its  establishment,  and  in  time  it  grew  into 
a  fair  working  library  that  fifty  years  ago  was  kept  in  the  rooms 
of  the  Adelphi  and  Calliope  societies  of  the  school.  These  vol- 
umes passed  to  the  Kent  Memorial  Library  at  the  time  of  its 
establishment. 

Suffield  Library  Association 

The  present  public  library  had  its  beginning  in  the  co-operative 
effort  of  interested  citizens  in  June  1884.  By  that  time  the  advan- 
tages of  libraries  for  school  as  well  as  public  use  had  become 
better  appreciated,  and  a  prime  mover  for  a  public  library  was 
Prof.  J.  F.  Kelley  of  the  faculty  of  the  Connecticut  Literary  In- 
stitution of  which  Judge  Martin  H.  Smith  was  then  principal. 
A  meeting  of  citizens  was  called  and  held  in  the  chapel  of  the 
First  Congregational  church,  a  subscription  paper  started  and  in 
a  short  time  $450  was  raised.  Those  taking  the  lead  in  the  enter- 
prise were  included  in  the  first  board  of  officers  which  consisted 
of  Rev.  H.  L.  Kelsey,  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church, 
president;  Dr.  M.  T.  Newton,  vice  president;  George  F.  Kendall, 
treasurer;  William  S.  Larkum,  secretary;  Prof.  J.  F.  Kelley, 
Rev.  H.  L.  Kelsey,  Rev.  B.  W.  Lockhart,  pastor  of  the  Second 
Baptist  church,  Dr.  O.  W.  Kellogg,  Dr.  W.  H.  Mather,  and  Dr. 
J.  K.  Mason,  directors;  William  L.  Loomis  and  E.  A.  Fuller 
auditors. 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  159 

By  the  first  of  the  year  the  library  had  become  an  accomplished 
fact  consisting  of  about  six  hundred  volumes  and  at  a  meeting 
of  the  directors  January  5,  1885  plans  were  made  to  open  the 
library  to  the  public  Monday  and  Saturday  afternoons.  The 
charge  for  a  card  entitling  a  holder  to  the  privileges 'of  the  library 
was  one  dollar.  Suitable  quarters  were  secured  on  the  first  floor 
of  the  building  on  the  south  corner  of  Day  Avenue  and  Main 
Street,  then  owned  by  Dr.  M.  T.  Newton,  and  Miss  Emma  New- 
ton became  librarian  giving  her  services  for  the  ten  years  in 
which  the  library  was  much  patronized  by  the  public.  At  inter- 
vals during  the  ten  years  fairs  and  entertainments  were  held  to 
raise  funds. 

Kent  Memorial  Library 

In  1893  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  providing  certain  state 
aid  in  the  purchase  of  books  for  towns  establishing  free  public 
libraries  and,  upon  the  petition  of  Edward  A.  Fuller  and  others, 
a  special  town  meeting  was  held  March  14, 1894  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  free  public  library.  A  board  of  twelve  directors  was 
chosen  and  authorized  to  adopt  such  by-laws  as  were  needed 
and  to  purchase  for  a  sum  not  exceeding  $200  all  the  books, 
about  1 200  volumes,  papers  and  property  of  the  Suffield  Library 
Association  which  then  ceased  to  exist. 

The  directors  so  chosen  were  Judge  Martin  H.  Smith,  Dr. 
Jarvis  K.  Mason,  James  O.  Haskins,  Miss  Louise  E.  Hatheway 
for  the  term  of  one  year;  Alfred  Spencer  Jr.,  Leverett  N.  Austin, 
Frederick  B.  Hatheway,  Miss  Alena  F.  Owen  for  two  years; 
Hezekiah  S.  Sheldon,  Dr.  Matthew  T.  Newton,  Dwight  S.  Ful- 
ler, Mrs.  Sara  L.  Spencer  for  three  years.  The  board  organized 
May  II,  1894  with  Martin  H.  Smith,  president;  James  O.  Has- 
kins secretary;  and  Alfred  Spencer,  Jr.,  treasurer.  Suitable 
quarters  were  secured  in  the  Loomis  Block  and  retained  until 
the  new  library  was  built.  The  growth  was  slow  at  first.  The 
town  appropriation  was  only  $300  but  in  190*0,  by  the  combined 
efforts  of  the  directors  and  others  interested,  the  library  had 
grown  to  3766  volumes  and  the  records  showed  that  6437  books 
had  been  drawn  by  the  public  during  the  year. 

In  1897  Mr.  Sidney  A.  Kent,  a  native  of  Suffield  and  for  many 
years  a  prominent  and  successful  business  man  in  Chicago,  re- 


l6o  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

turned  to  Suffield  and,  desirous  of  erecting  a  memorial  to  his 
parents  whose  ancestors  were  prominent  in  the  early  history  of 
the  town,  offered  to  erect  a  library  building  costing  not  less  than 
$35,000,  if  the  town  would  provide  a  suitable  site.  The  site  of 
the  old  South  building  was  secured  from  the  Connecticut  Liter- 
ary Institution  and  was  a  part  of  the  grant  or  allotment  of  land 
made  in  1678  to  Samuel  Kent,  the  first  of  his  ancestors  to  come  to 
Suffield.  Upon  this  he  erected  the  beautiful  Kent  Memorial 
building  and  in  addition  furnished  the  library  with  6872  carefully 
selected  volumes  and  thirty-two  magazines  and  periodicals. 
That  the  library  might  be  properly  provided  for  in  addition  to 
town  appropriations,  Mr.  Kent  created  an  endowment  of 
$25,000,  one-half  of  the  income  of  which  should  go  annually  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  library,  and  the  other  half  added  to  the 
principal  for  a  period  of  twenty  years,  after  which  the  whole  in- 
come of  the  increased  fund  should  become  available.  The  build- 
ing was  dedicated  November  I,  1899  at  which  time  Mr.  Kent 
presented  to  the  town  the  building,  books,  certificate  of  trust 
fund  and  a  check  for  $5000  to  cover  the  cost  of  site.  On  Septem- 
ber i,  1901  the  library  had  10,759  volumes  in  its  stacks  and 
10,773  nad  been  drawn  by  the  public  during  the  year.  There  are 
now  over  twenty  thousand  volumes  and  the  number  of  books 
drawn  annually  by  the  public  has  steadily  increased.  The  town 
annually  appropriates  $1200  and  the  income  from  the  Kent 
fund  is  about  $1400. 

Since  the  dedication  of  the  new  building  other  bequests  have 
been  made.  The  late  Martin  J.  Sheldon  left  $25,000  in  trust  as 
a  memorial  to  his  brother  Henry  Kent  Sheldon,  one-half  the 
income  becoming  available  to  the  library  at  once  and  the  other 
half  added  to  the  principal  for  a  term  of  years.  Besides  these 
are  the  Helen  M.  King  and  Jane  Leavitt  Hunt  Funds,  the  in- 
come of  which  is  used  in  the  purchase  of  reference  books.  The 
income  from  all  funds  now  amounts  to  about  $2100  a  year. 
The  first  librarian,  Miss  Jennie  Bemis,  was  succeeded  August  1 894 
by  Miss  Mary  Gay  Spencer  who  served  until  1898.  In  that  year 
Miss  Lillian  Steadman  became  librarian,  and  served  for  sixteen 
years.  Miss  Madeline  H.  Spencer  the  present  librarian  began 
her  services  in  1914. 

The  only  changes  in  the  board  of  directors  have  been  those 


THE  OLD  MIDDLE,  Built   1851   and  Remodeled   1907 


THE  OLD  SOUTH,  Built  1834  and  Torn  Down  1899 


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House  Built  by  Captain  Jonathan  Sheldon  1723  (p.  165) 


Home  of  Posthumous  Sikes  1739  (p.  173) 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  l6l 

caused  by  death  or  removal  from  Suffield.  Of  the  original  board 
James  O.  Haskins,  Miss  Alena  F.  Owen,  Mrs.  Sara  L.  Spencer 
and  Dwight  S.  Fuller  are  still  serving.  The  present  officers  are 
Samuel  R.  Spencer,  president,  and  James  O.  Haskins,  secretary 
and  treasurer.  Miss  Owen  was  treasurer  from  1895  to  1918. 
Directors  whose  service  has  been  terminated  by  death  have  been 
M.  H.  Smith  1894-1905 ;M. T.Newton,  1894-1909;  J.  K.  Mason, 
1894-1905;  Louise  E.  Hatheway,  1894-1912;  L.  N.  Austin,  1894- 
1900;  F.  B.  Hatheway,  1894-1917;  H.  S.  Sheldon,  1894-1903; 
O.  C.  Rose,  1895-99;  C.  C.  Bissell,  1905-1914;  and  George  F.Ken- 
dall 1909-12,  A.  Spencer  Jr.,  1904-05,  and  Sarah  F.  Dibble,  1900- 
12,  removed  from  Suffield. 

The  present  board  with  the  date  of  their  election  is  as  follows: 
Alena  F.  Owen,  James  O.  Haskins,  D.  S.  Fuller  and  Sara  L. 
Spencer,  1894;  W.  E.  Caldwell,  1899;  S.  R.  Spencer,  1903;  H.  B. 
Russell,  1905;  G.  A.  Harmon,  Hattie  S.  Brockett,  C.  B.  Sheldon, 
1912;  C.  R.  Latham,  1914;  S.  K.  Legare,  1917. 

The  Sheldon  Collection 

No  native  of  Suffield  had  a  keener  or  more  passionate  interest 
in  the  town  of  his  fathers  than  the  late  Hezekiah  S.  Sheldon  and 
one  of  the  results  of  his  long  and  painstaking  study  and  research 
is  a  legacy  of  peculiar  value  to  the  library  and  the  town.  The 
Sheldon  Collection  is  unique  in  that  its  actual  value  increases 
with  the  years,  while  in  a  larger  sense  it  is  priceless  because  it 
could  not  be  entirely  replaced. 

Becoming  interested  early  in  life  in  all  pertaining  to  old  Suf- 
field, for  years  he  ranged  the  field  of  New  England  colonial  re- 
cords, seeking  anything  that  related  to  its  early  history  and 
families.  His  transcription  and  publication  of  the  records  of  the 
town  for  its  first  ninety  years  suggested  numerous  lines  of  re- 
search in  which  he  spared  neither  time  nor  money,  and  often 
they  yielded  rich  results.  It  was  discovered  that  one  of  the  vol- 
umes of  the  vital  statistics  of  Suffield  (1760-1817)  was  missing 
and  later  he  found  it  in  a  search  of  the  attic  of  the  old  Pease 
house  just  before  it  was  torn  down.  For  years  he  was  a  familiar 
figure  at  book  sales  of  rare  Americana,  and  at  the  sale  of  the 
notable  Brindley  collection  in  New  York  in  1879,  made  exten- 
sive purchases.  One  of  the  rare  little  pamphlets  offered  was 


l62  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

Isaac  Hollister's  story  of  his  captivity  in  1763,  printed  in  Suffield 
by  Edward  Gray  in  1813.  Others  bid  for  it  but  on  the  margin  of 
the  Brindley  catalogue  left  in  the  collection  is  Mr.  Sheldon's 
penciled  memo:  "H.  S.  S.  has  it;  $30."  Authorities  in  rare  Amer- 
icana now  value  the  faded  little  volume  at  $100.  At  the  same 
sale  he  purchased  for  $22  a  small  pamphlet — the  Holly  sermon 
preached  at  Suffield  the  first  Sunday  after  the  arrival  of  the 
news  of  the  Boston  Tea  Party.  These  instances  are  typical  of 
many,  indicating  the  thoroughness  and  persistence  with  which 
he  sought  and  obtained  Suffield  antiquities. 

The  collection,  however,  is  far  from  being  confined  to  books 
or  papers  directly  relating  to  Suffield;  it  contains  many  rare 
books  in  a  wider  field  in  which  Suffield,  as  an  Old  New  England 
town,  had  its  place.  It  is  rich  in  colonial  history  and  genealogy, 
comprising  such  works  as  Hinman's  Genealogy  of  the  Colony  of 
Connecticut,  John  Farmer's  Genealogical  Register,  John  Eliot's 
Biographical  Dictionary  of  the  First  Settlers  of  New  England, 
1809,  Savages's  Genealogical  Dictionary,  William  Allen's  Bio- 
graphical Dictionary,  (first  edition  and  quite  rare),  The  New 
England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  Vols.  I  to  18  in- 
clusive, three  of  which  are  scarce  and  one  of  them  said  to  be 
quite  unobtainable. 

In  a  measure  Mr.  Sheldon's  extensive  collection  of  town  his- 
tories and  other  data,  both  political  and  religious,  may  have 
been  influenced  by  a  genealogical  study  of  the  first  Suffield 
settlers.  The  Grangers,  Nortons,  Fullers  and  others  came  from 
Ipswich,  Mass.,  and  in  his  collection  are  Felt's  History  of 
Ipswich  and  Kimball's  Sketch  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Society 
of  Ipswich;  in  a  similar  manner  he  added  to  his  collection 
books  and  papers  regarding  the  early  history  and  families  of 
Northampton,  Springfield,  Hadley,  and  the  old  towns  of  Con- 
necticut. 

One  rare  treasure,  however,  the  collection  unfortunately 
missed.  At  some  time  in  his  searches  Mr.  Sheldon  obtained  a 
copy  of  William  Pynchon's  book,  "Meritorious  Price  of  Christ's 
Redemption"  paying  $205.  President  Pynchon  of  Trinity  Col- 
lege (1874-83)  wanted  it.  No  other  copies  were  obtainable  and, 
recognizing  the  sentimental  claim  of  a  descendent  of  Springfield's 
first  magistrate  and  leader,  Mr.  Sheldon  sold  it  to  him  for  $500. 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  163 

Had  the  book  related  directly  to  Suffield,  probably  he  would  not 
have  sold  it  at  any  price. 

Next  to  local  and  related  town  history  no  subject  appealed  to 
Mr.  Sheldon  more  than  the  Indians.  The  collection  contains 
many  stories  of  Indian  captivities  and  early  published  volumes 
of  Indian  wars  constitute  a  considerable  portion  of  this  library  of 
rare  old  books.  Quaint  stories  of  travel  and  geographical  des- 
cription form  another  distinctive  and  extensive  feature. 

Interesting  relics  of  old  Suffield  abound.  Among  them  are 
many  manuscript  sermons  preached  by  Suffield  ministers  in  the 
old  days;  old  account  books  of  first  settlers;  old  maps,  such  as  one 
of  the  Farmington  canal;  first  communion  cup  of  the  West 
Suffield  Congregational  church,  carried  off  to  Ohio  by  an  emi- 
grating family  and  recovered  by  Mr.  Sheldon  some  eighty  years 
later;  a  pitchpipe  wrought  into  the  shape  of  a  book  which  be- 
longed to  Sheldon  Graham,  chorister  of  the  West  Suffield  church 
and  brother  of  Sylvester  Graham;  several  Graham  books  and 
sermons;  a  New  England  Psalm  Tune  book  printed  in  Suffield; 
papers  concerning  Newgate  Prison  of  which  Mr.  Sheldon's 
grandfather  was  keeper  for  many  years,  and  variou  sother  rec- 
ords and  articles  of  olden  times. 


Gad  Lane  Tavern,  Built  by  Samuel  Lane  1726  (p.  174) 


Hatheway  Place,  Built  by  Abraham  Burbank  1736  (p.  166) 


Alfred  Spencer  Place,  Built  by  Daniel  Spencer  1726-47  (p.  169) 


Gay  Manse,  Built  by  Rev.  Ebenezer  Gay,  D.D.  1742  (p.  167) 


LANDMARKS 

By  nothing  that  now  remains  is  the  voice  of  Suffield's  past 
spoken  so  clearly  as  by  some  of  its  old  houses,  and  their  archi- 
tectural qualities,  representing  the  thought  and  purpose  of  the 
periods  in  which  they  were  erected,  make  them  an  interesting 
study.  Previous  to  the  celebration,  the  Historical  Committee,  of 
which  Mr.  Samuel  R.  Spencer  was  chairman,  procured  and  placed 
upon  about  one  hundred  of  the  older  houses  signs  giving  the 
names  of  their  builders  so  far  as  they  could  be  ascertained,  and 
the  date  of  their  construction.  This  involved  an  extensive  search 
of  old  land  records  and  other  sources  of  information  and  Mr. 
Spencer  has  since  supplemented  this  much  appreciated  feature 
of  the  celebration  with  further  facts  gleaned  from  old  records, 
regarding  a  few  of  the  old  houses  that  he  has  selected  for  illustra- 
tion in  this  publication.  For  this  purpose  he  has  chosen  as  many 
different  types  as  possible  and  houses  that  are  in  their  original 
condition  or  nearly  so. 

Certain  architectural  features  were  typical  of  different  periods. 
It  appears,  for  instance,  that  those  houses  built  previous  to  the 
Pease  house  in  1760  had  but  one  chimney  which  was  placed  in 
the  center  of  the  house,  usually  with  large  fireplaces  in  the 
rooms  grouped  about  it.  Those  built  after  1760  have  a  hall 
through  the  center  with  chimneys  at  either  side  and  usually  close 
to  either  end  of  the  house,  thus  doubling  the  number  of  possible 
fireplaces,  for  heating  was  one  of  the  main  considerations  in  those 
days.  Palladian  windows  occur  only  in  houses  built  during  the 
decade  1790-1800,  and  from  1790  to  1830  semi-circular  windows 
were  used  in  the  attics  of  nearly  every  house.  These  and  other 
architectural  qualities  will  be  noticed  in  the  houses  illustrated. 

The  Jonathan  Sheldon  Place 

Mr.  Hezekiah  S.  Sheldon  used  to  claim  that  this  was  the  oldest 
house  in  town  and  its  "lean-to"  roof  and  great  chimney  indicate 
that  it  is  certainly  among  the  oldest.  Captain  Johnathan  Sheldon 
came  to  Suffield  from  Northampton  in  1723  and  built  his  house 
that  summer.  Here  he  raised  his  large  family,  giving  to  each  of 
his  five  sons  a  separate  farm  on  Sheldon  Street.  His  wife  died  in 
1768  and  he  the  next  year;  on  their  tombstone  they  are  called, 


l66  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

"The  Happy  Pair."  At  their  death,  their  son  Gershom  received 
the  place  and  passed  it  on  to  his  son  Ebenezer,  who  in  1800 
moved  to  Aurora,  Ohio,  selling  the  place  to  Captain  Isaac  Owen. 
He  died  in  1816  and  left  it  to  his  son  Benajah  who  in  1823  leased 
it  to  his  sons.  A  mortgage  given  in  1799  speaks  of  "an  ancient 
house."  In  1829  Sheldon,  Holkins  and  Lyman,  having  fore- 
closed a  mortgage,  sold  it  to  Gustavus  Austin,  from  whom  it 
descended  to  his  son  T.  Jefferson  Austin  and  his  grandson 
Charles  C.  Austin  who  sold  it  in  1901  to  R.  L.  Theuer.  From 
his  estate  it  was  bought  in  1904  by  Christopher  Michel. 

The  Hatheway  Place 

The  main  part  of  the  house,  now  the  residence  of  D.  N.  Car- 
rington,  was  built  in  1736  by  Captain  Abraham  Burbank  who 
had  previously  bought  of  Christopher  Jacob  Lawton,  the  early 
lawyer  mentioned  elsewhere,  ten  acres  of  land  which  had  been 
the  home  lot  of  Nathaniel  Harmon.  Captain  Burbank  was  one 
of  the  leading  men  in  the  town.  In  1743  he  added  to  the  property 
the  Devotion  place  on  the  north,  between  his  place  and  the  Har- 
rocks  place  as  this  generation  knows  it.  The  Devotion  house  had 
been  built  about  1715  by  Ebenezer  Devotion,  pastor  of  the  Con- 
gregational church,  and  has  long  since  gone.  But  the  well  still 
remains  just  north  of  Mr.  Carrington's  barns,  and  the  last  of  the 
seven  elms  he  planted  stood  until  about  six  years  ago.  Tradition 
has  it  that,  in  a  stop  at  Suffield  on  a  trip  through  New  England 
and  after  dining  at  the  Austin  Tavern  across  the  street,  George 
Washington  addressed  the  townspeople  under  this  elm,  that  so 
long  survived  its  fellows.  Captain  Burbank  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  Shem,  who  was  one  of  the  four  Suffield  Tories  mentioned 
in  Rev.  Samuel  Peters'  list  as  being  loyal  to  the  King  and  to  be 
counted  on  as  against  the  Revolution.  The  others  were  Dr. 
Alexander  King,  town  clerk  and  physician,  Captain  Isaac  Owen 
and  Seth  Austin,  the  tavern  keeper.  Shem  Burbank  sold  the 
place  to  Oliver  Phelps  of  Granville,  Mass.,  but  he  embarked 
later  in  an  unfortunate  land  speculation  in  the  west,  and,  selling 
the  place  to  Asahel  Hatheway  Sr.,  moved  to  Canandaigua,  N.  Y. 
Asahel  Hatheway  Jr.,  who  had  prospered  in  New  York  as  a  mer- 
chant, built  the  north  wing  of  the  house  about  1816  and  the 
south  wing  was  used  by  his  son,  Henry,  as  a  law  office,  though 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  l6j 

it  is  uncertain  when  it  was  built.  The  big  sycamore  in  the  south 
yard  is  well  over  a  hundred  years  old,  and  is  quite  the  most  nota- 
ble tree  in  Suffield.  Both  Asahel  Hatheway  and  his  son  Asahel, 
were  Yale  men,  and  in  1815  Asahel  Jr.  added  to  his  inheritance 
Hezekiah  Huntington's  lot  of  ten  acres  (formerly  the  homestead 
of  General  Phinehas  Lyman,  the  house  standing  not  far  from  the 
present  unfinished  hotel).  For  many  years  "Miss  Louise", 
daughter  of  Asahel  Hatheway  Jr.,  was  mistress  of  this  place,  and 
her  stately  dignity  and  gracious  but  firm  refusal  to  open  her 
home  to  any  but  a  few  intimates  imparted  to  the  old  mansion 
an  air  of  mystery.  She  died  in  1910  and  many  of  the  treasures 
and  heirlooms  are  now  cherished  in  the  Wadsworth  Atheneum 
in  Hartford. 

Gay  Manse 

In  1742  the  Congregational  Church  called  to  Suffield  Ebenezer 
Gay  of  Hingham,  Mass.  He  and  his  son,  Ebenezer  Gay,  Jr., 
were  pastors  of  this  church  for  ninety-five  years  during  all  of 
which  they  exerted  a  great  influence,  which  radiated  from  this 
house  on  the  life  of  the  community.  When  Mr.  Gay  came  here 
in  1742,  he  built  the  Gay  Manse  and  brought  to  it  his  young  wife 
who  was  Hannah  Angier,  daughter  of  a  merchant  in  Providence, 
and  the  list  of  her  dowry  is  preserved  in  the  Kent  Library,  as 
also  Mr.  Gay's  diaries  covering  a  period  of  over  forty  years,  and 
many  of  his  sermons.  The  old  place  has  always  remained  in  the 
family  and  is  in  practically  the  same  condition  as  when  these 
old  divines  lived  there.  This  place  was  originally  a  part  of  the 
grant  to  Rev.  Peletiah  Glover  of  Springfield  but  was  soon  after 
bought  by  Victory  Sikes.  In  1699  the  latter  sold  his  house  lot 
"with  a  mansion  and  buildings  thereon"  to  Joseph  Sheldon,  Sr., 
and  in  1724  his  son  Joseph  sold  it  to  his  cousin  Josiah  Sheldon, 
who  had  a  store.  In  1727  it  was  purchased  by  Ebenezer  Burbank 
who  held  it  until  1735  when  he  sold  it  to  Christopher  Jacob  Law- 
ton,  the  lawyer,  who  in  the  same  year  bought  the  present  town 
of  Blandford  from  the  Suffield  proprietors.  But  the  same  year 
also  Lawton  sold  the  place  to  John  Kent  who  held  the  property 
until  it  was  bought  by  Dr.  Ebenezer  Gay. 

Joseph  Pease  House 
In  1750,  Joseph  Pease  of  Enfield  moved  to  Suffield,  lived  with 


l68  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

Asaph  Leavitt  and  made  shoes  for  a  living;  later  he  lived  with 
General  Lyman  and  built  a  sloop  for  him  in  1753.  On  July  24, 
1760  he  raised  the  house  here  illustrated  and  moved  into  it  in 
November  of  that  year.  His  diary  which  he  kept  for  many  years 
is  still  in  the  possession  of  his  great  grand-daughter,  Mrs.  Ed- 
ward A.  Fuller,  and  on  it  this  sketch  is  based.  He  was  a  stirring 
active  man  of  many  interests,  had  a  malt  house  on  Clay  Gutter 
and  made  from  twelve  to  fifteen  hundred  barrels  of  cider  a  year, 
and  shipped  five  hundred  bushels  of  rye  to  Holland  at  a  time. 
He  had  saw  mills  at  the  mouth  of  Stony  Brook,  and  made  fre- 
quent trips  on  horseback  to  Vermont  after  logs,  which  were 
floated  down  the  river.  We  find  in  his  diary  that  when  sixty- 
four  years  old  he  made  the  trip  of  seventy-four  miles  to  Benning- 
ton,  Vt.,  on  horse  back  in  three  days,  and  that  he  drove  to  Co- 
hoes,  N.  Y.,  in  a  sleigh  in  the  year  of  his  death.  There  are  many 
references  to  the  weather  scattered  through  his  diary,  some  of 
them  so  surprising  that  they  seem  worthy  of  reproducing: 

"The  snow  is  so  deep  and  hard  that  on  March  19,  1763,  could 
go  with  teams  and  sleds  over  the  fences.  I  went  that  day  over 
the  bigger  part  of  the  town  across  the  lots  without  any  regard 
to  highways.  The  Great  River  was  crossed  with  horses  after 
that  on  April  2nd." 

"Oct.  23,  1773,  ripe  strawberrys  and  raspberrys,  second  crop 
of  flax,  good  and  well-coated  and  summer  rye  eared  and  in  the 
blow;  the  most  remarkable  growing  fall  I  ever  knew." 

"1780  Friday  May  iQth,  a  very  dark  day  so  that  at  10  a.m. 
candles  wanted  in  the  house;  fowls  went  to  roost  and  everything 
appeared  like  half  an  hour  after  sunset  on  a  cloudy  day;  the 
clouds  of  a  greenish  hue  and  very  surprising  and  reflected  same 
color  on  everything  on  the  earth;  and  the  next  Sunday  was  seen 
by  Esq.  King  and  his  wife  a  mock  sun  at  half  an  hour  high  in  the 
morning  a  little  above  the  sun,  which  the  sun  passed  over  and 
left  visible  after  it  was  above  it." 

"The  Great  River  held  good  crossing  on  the  ice  with  any  load 
from  the  first  of  December  to  I2th  of  March  without  interrup- 
tion." 

This  house  was  one  of  the  notable  houses  of  the  town  and  as 
far  as  Mr.  S.  R.  Spencer  has  discovered  the  first  one  to  be  built 
with  a  chimney  in  each  end  and  a  hall  through  the  middle, 
Its  front  doorway  was  the  pride  of  the  town  for  many  years. 
The  front  hall  was  beautifully  paneled  and  its  stair  rail  of  rare 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  169 

architectural  grace.  From  this  hall,  entrance  was  gained  into  a 
small  and  dark  room,  whither  the  family  were  wont  to  retire 
in  case  of  thunder  showers.  When  Joseph  Pease  died  1794,  this 
house  passed  to  his  son  Dr.  Oliver,  who  lived  and  practiced  his 
profession  till  he  was  past  eighty,  and  found  time  to  be  town 
clerk  for  twenty  years  and  judge  of  probate.  On  his  death  the 
property  passed  to  his  daughter  Emily,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Elam 
Clarke,  and  from  them  to  their  daughter  Miss  Emily  Clarke, 
last  of  the  line,  who  died  in  1885.  The  house  was  then  bought 
by  Martin  J.  Sheldon  and  given  to  the  Connecticut  Literary 
Institution  and,  having  fallen  into  neglect,  it  was  demolished 
in  1902. 

The  Spencer  Place 

Thomas  Spencer,  Jr.,  came  to  Suffield  in  1674  and  received  a 
grant  of  sixty  acres  on  the  east  side  of  High  street,  comprising 
the  present  Norton  place  and  the  property  of  St.  Joseph's 
church.  In  1698  his  son  Samuel  received  a  grant  of  sixteen  acres 
in  the  meadow  which  is  still  a  part  of  the  Spencer  farm.  High 
Street  was  becoming  thickly  settled  by  1726  and  Samuel  Spencer 
sold  his  half  of  his  father's  grant  and  built  a  house  on  the  present 
Olds  &  Whipple  farm.  It  was  on  the  flat  west  of  the  present 
house  and  was  the  first  house  built  between  High  Street  and 
Taintor  Hill.  The  same  year  the  town  laid  out  a  road  by  this 
house,  and  soon  after  Thomas  Spencer  built  a  house  on  the  brow 
of  the  hill,  east  of  his  father's  place  and  near  where  the  large 
maple  now  stands.  Sometime  before  1743  Daniel  Spencer  built 
the  house  here  illustrated.  With  the  single  exception  of  the  Dan 
Phelps  house  west  of  the  mountain  it  is  said  to  be  the  only  one 
in  Suffield  with  an  overhanging  second  story.  Samuel  Spencer 
died  in  1743  and  his  sons  divided  the  land,  Daniel  taking  the 
north  and  Thomas  the  south  half.  Daniel  Spencer  died  in  1772 
and  his  farm  passed  to  Daniel  Spencer,  Jr.,  who  died  in  1784, 
when  the  property  passed  to  his  children.  In  1798  Augustine 
Spencer,  son  of  Daniel  Jr.,  sold  his  place  to  his  cousin  Hezekiah, 
grandson  of  Thomas.  In  1803  Spencer  Street  was  laid  out  by 
the  town,  just  north  of  this  house,  but  it  was  subsequently 
changed  to  the  south.  In  1810  Hezekiah  Spencer  moved  to  South 
Street  to  be  on  the  post  road  but  retained  ownership  of  the  farm. 


I7O  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

He  died  in  1820,  and  the  farm  passed  to  his  son  Alfred,  who  in 
1823  married  Harriet  King,  daughter  of  Ebenezer  King,  Jr., 
builder  of  the  Gay  Mansion  and  the  Pool,  and  they  renovated 
the  house  and  moved  into  it.  Alfred  Spencer  died  in  1838  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  Alfred  who  died  in  1891,  leaving  seven 
children,  who  incorporated  The  Alfred  Spencer  Company  which 
now  owns  the  house  and  farm. 

Gay  Mansion 

In  1795  Ebenezer  King,  Jr.,  bought  "twenty-six  acres  of  land 
on  High  Street  bounded  west  on  the  post  road,  southwest  corner 
bound  being  at  the  old  drain  through  the  lot."  He  was  at  that 
time  in  the  heyday  of  his  prosperity  and  reputed  to  be  worth 
$100,000.  He  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in  the  Connecticut 
Western  Reserve  of  Ohio,  and  later  lost  his  fortune  and  died 
comparatively  poor.  Gay  Mansion,  as  it  came  to  be  known 
later,  was  the  finest  house  in  Suffield,  as  the  illustrations  else- 
where show.  In  1811,  Ebenezer  King  sold  the  place  to  William 
Gay,  who  was  then  and  for  many  years  the  leading  lawyer  of 
this  part  of  Hartford  County,  and  for  over  thirty-five  years  the 
postmaster  of  Suffield,  the  post  office  being  at  this  house.  The 
home  passed  to  two  unmarried  daughters  who  lived  long  lives 
there,  keeping  the  old  furnishings  of  the  house  with  scrupulous 
nicety  and  precision.  For  well  nigh  a  hundred  years  the  great 
hall  carpet,  woven  in  the  house  from  wool  grown  and  spun  on  the 
place,  remained  in  good  condition,  and  all  the  well  preserved 
furnishings  gave  to  the  place  a  peculiar  charm  in  later  years  as 
the  home  of  Mrs.  Elise  R.  Ailing,  who  thus  retained  it  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  descendents  of  the  Gay  family  until  1916,  when  it 
was  sold  to  Rev.  Daniel  R.  Kennedy,  Jr. 

Luther  Loomis  Place 

Joseph  Pease  recorded  in  his  diary,  "April  29th,  1790  Luther 
Loomis  raised  his  house."  which  dates  this  house  exactly.  It  is 
located  on  land  that  Col.  Loomis  had  bought  a  few  years  before 
from  Seth  Austin.  Col.  Loomis  was  a  man  of  importance  in  the 
town,  merchant,  and  farmer,  and  largely  interested  in  the  Con- 
necticut Western  Reserve.  His  house  was  fitting  in  every  way 
for  a  man  of  his  position.  After  his  death  it  passed  to  his  son, 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  IJl 

Luther,  who  was  also,  a  merchant  and  public  servant,  having 
held  at  one  time  or  another  all  the  offices  in  the  gift  of  his  town 
and  served  as  judge  of  probate,  member  of  the  Connecticut 
House  of  Representatives  for  six  years,  and  of  Connecticut 
Senate  for  four  years.  In  1842,  he  was  the  candidate  for  Gover- 
nor of  Connecticut  on  the  Conservative  Democratic  party. 
Upon  his  death  in  1866,  the  property  passed  to  his  son  Judge 
William  L.  Loomis,  who  like  his  father  and  grand-father  served 
his  town  in  many  capacities  and  especially  as  town  clerk. 
It  is  to  his  untiring  patience  and  devotion  that  the  unusually 
excellent  condition  of  our  Town  Records  is  due,  for  to  them  he 
gave  many  hours  of  loving  care  and  work.  He  is  still  affection- 
ately remembered  by  all  who  knew  him  and  his  fame  as  a  racon- 
teur still  survives.  At  his  death,  the  property  passed  to  his  wife 
and  her  sister,  Miss  Sophia  Bissell,  and  upon  Miss  Bissell's  death 
in  1912  it  was  bought  by  Mr.  Chas.  L.  Spencer  and  given  to  the 
Masonic  bodies  of  Suffield  for  a  home.  By  them  it  was  loaned  to 
the  town  as  a  Hostess  House  during  the  celebration. 

Old  Granger  Place 

The  Granger  genealogy  says  this  house  was  built  by  Col.  Za- 
dock  Granger  about  1780,  but  a  close  study  of  the  records  leads 
to  the  belief  that  it  is  about  twenty  years  older.  Robert  Granger 
a  blacksmith,  lived  on  East  Street  as  early  as  1757,  probably  in 
the  place  now  owned  by  John  Zak.  He  sold  the  place  illustrated 
herewith  to  his  son  Zadock  in  1772,  Zadock  sold  it  to  his  brother 
Robert  in  1776,  and  repurchased  it  from  Robert  in  1783.  Col. 
Zadock  Granger  was  a  very  active  man  and  owned  at  various 
times  besides  his  large  farm,  the  Island,  a  part  of  the  Oil  Mill, 
and  the  saw  mills  at  the  mouth  of  Stony  Brook.  In  1798  he 
moved  to  Genesee,  N.  Y.,  and  about  that  time  sold  this  place  to 
his  nephew  Thaddeus  Granger,  who  resided  here  until  his  death 
in  1848.  His  son  Hiram  K.  Granger  sold  this  property  to  Amos 
and  James  Chapell  in  1866,  and  they  sold  in  1902  to  E.  Clay- 
ton Holdridge,  who  kept  it  until  1911  and  then  sold  it  to  Chas. 
Lucas,  the  present  owner.  The  house  has  one  feature  believed  to 
be  unique  among  Suffield  houses — the  large  grain  bins  in  the 
south  front  room  on  the  second  story. 


172  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

Timothy  Swan  House 

Six  acres  of  the  present  "Mather  Place"  was  the  original 
grant  to  Thomas  Huxley,  Jr.,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  was  the  home  of  Isaac  Bissell  who  kept  a  black- 
smith shop  there.  In  April,  1788,  he  sold  his  holdings  to  Benajah 
Kent  (builder  of  the  "Kent  Place,"  now  owned  by  S.  K.  Legare) 
and  he  sold  them  to  Dr.  Howard  Alden  in  1791.  But  in  1794  Dr. 
Alden  built  the  house  where  Mrs.  Edward  A.  Fuller  lives,  and 
sold  this  property  to  Timothy  Swan  who  built  the  house  and  put 
the  date,  1794,  on  the  chimney.  Timothy  Swan  in  the  intervals 
of  writing  hymns  engaged  in  mercantile  business  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  Ebenezer  Gay,  or  at  least  with  his  backing,  and  the  title 
was  transferred  back  and  forth  for  a  decade  or  so,  and  eventually 
sold  by  Timothy  Swan  in  1807.  The  following  transfers  show 
its  history  and  that  it  has  been  "The  Mather  Place"  over  eighty 
years:  1788,  Isaac  Bissell  to  Benajah  Kent  "with  shop;"  1791, 
Benajah  Kent  to  Dr.  Howard  Alden;  1794,  Dr.  Howard  Alden 
to  Timothy  Swan;  1807,  Timothy  and  Mary  Gay  Swan  to  John 
M.  Garnett;  1819,  John  M.Garnett  to  Seth  King,  two  and  one- 
half  acres  and  house;  1821,  Seth  King  to  Henry  Loomis  of  New 
York  City.  Henry  Loomis  was  living  there  in  1840  and  paying 
interest  to  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Capt.  John  Kent,  from  whom  he 
had  probably  bought  additional  lands  to  the  west,  as  the  place 
contained  twenty-five  acres  when  deeded  by  Eliphalet  Terry  of 
Hartford  and  Harvey  Bissell  of  Sumeld  to  Timothy  Mather  of 
Windsor  from  whom  it  has  come  down  by  inheritance  to  the 
present  owner,  Elizabeth  B.  Mather. 

Old  Harmon  Place 

In  1766  Silas  Kent  traded  his  place  in  West  Suffield,  near  the 
foot  of  the  mountain,  with  Ebenezer  Harmon  2d,  born  1727,  who 
had  lived  near  the  cemetery,  and  this  place  became  the  home- 
stead of  one  branch  of  the  Harmon  family  for  over  eighty  years. 
Ebenezer  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Israel,  born  1753,  and  he  by 
his  son  Julius,  born  1796.  Julius  died  in  1842,  leaving  no  male 
heirs,  and  in  1852  Silas  Root,  trustee  under  the  will  transferred 
the  place  to  Ar'temus  and  Horace  King.  Later  transfers  were: 
Artemus  to  Horace  A.  King;  1906,  Edward  C.  King  (son  of  Hor- 


Leavitt  Place,  Built  by  Capt.  Joseph  Winchell  Before  1742  (p.  173) 


King  Place,  Built  by  William  King  1750  (p.  174) 


Granger  Place,  Built  by  Robert  Granger  1760  (p.  171) 


Harmon  Place,  Sold  by  Silas  Kent  to  Ebenezer  Harmon  1766  (p.  172) 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 


ace)  to  William  H.  Orr;  1906,  William  H.  Orr  to  Joseph  Abrano- 
vitch;  1906,  Joseph  Abranovitch  to  Julius  Malinska. 

Capt.  Medad  Pomeroy  Place 

This  house  appears  to  have  been  built  on  a  different  plan  than 
any  other  house  in  Sumeld.  The  record  of  transfers  follows:  1768, 
Phinehas  Pomeroy  to  Medad  Pomeroy  for  forty  pounds,  forty- 
five  acres  (no  building  mentioned);  1773,  Medad  Pomeroy  to 
Charles  Smith,  with  house;  1799,  Stephen  and  Ruth  Porter  to 
Dan  Sheldon;  1815,  Charles  Sheldon  to  Andrew  Dennison  (first 
Master  of  Apollo  Lodge);  1828,  Andrew  and  Susan  Dennison  to 
William  H.  Owen;  1836,  William  H.  Owen's  children  to  Reuben 
Loomis;  1849,  Reuben  Loomis  quit-claimed  to  Isaac  Wing,  a 
cigar  maker,  who  is  buried  in  Suffield  while  his  wife,  Hannah 
Ladd,  is  buried  in  Franklin,  Conn.;  1853,  Isaac  Wing  to  John 
Nooney;  1858,  John  Nooney  to  O.  W.  Kellogg;  1859,  O.  W.  Kel- 
logg to  Roswell  Merriman;  1870,  Roswell  Merriman  to  Lucretia 
Merriman;  1904,  Emerson  A.  Merriman  to  T.  H.  Smith. 

Old  Leavitt  Place 

This  house  was  built  before  1742,  probably  by  Captain  Joseph 
Winchell  who  died  in  1742.  The  records  show  the  following  trans- 
fers; Samuel  Granger  to  Asaph  Leavitt,  "The  Home  lot  I  now 
dwell  on";  1746,  Asaph  Leavitt  to  John  Leavitt  (married  in 
1745)  the  above  piece  of  property;  1752,  Jonathan  Leavitt  to  his 
brother  John  "the  home  lot  where  Captain  Joseph  Winchell 
lately  lived,  with  Mansion  house  and  barn  thereon;"  1781  John 
Leavitt  to  son  Joshua  "Mansion  house;"  1805,  Joshua  Leavitt 
to  Joshua  Leavitt,  Jr.;  1820,  Joshua  Leavitt  mortgaged  to  Lu- 
ther Loomis;  1826,  Luther  Loomis  to  Henry  Wright,  "The 
Joshua  Leavitt  Farm;"  1859,  Halsey  S.  Wright,  guardian,  to 
Nathan  Clark;  1886,  The  heirs  of  Nathan  Clark  to  Fred  Clark. 

House  of  Posthumous  Sikes 

It  is  certain  that  Posthumous  Sikes  lived  here  as  early  as  1739. 
Victory  Sikes  mortgaged  this  land  in  1717  and  it  is  quite  possible 
that  this  house  is  the  house  mentioned  in  that  mortgage  as  its 
great  chimney  indicates  it  is  one  of  the  oldest  houses  in  the  town. 
The  record  of  transfers  follows:  1759,  a  deed  speaks  of  the  "heirs 


174  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

of  Posthumous  Sikes;"  1780-1783,  Shadrach  Sikes  bought  out 
the  other  heirs  of  Posthumous;  1811,  Shadrach  Sikes  and  his 
brother-in-law  lived  there,  Delia  Sikes  to  Jonathan  Remington, 
2d;  1841,  Jonathan  Remington,  2d,  to  Delia  Sikes;  1845,  Delia 
Sikes  to  Gramaliel  Fuller;  1854,  Luther  H.  Fuller  to  Lewis  Z. 
Sikes;  1855,  Lewis  Z.  Sikes  to  J.  B.  Vandelinda;  1863,  John  B. 
Vandelinda  to  M.  A.  Deming;  1864,  Oscar  and  Mary  Deming  to 
George  Williston;  1888,  Estate  of  George  Williston  to  Jewett 
Wright;  1889,  Jewett  Wright  to  G.  H.  Kent,  1910,  George  H. 
Kent  Estate  to  F.  S.  Kent. 

The  King  Place 

This  house,  with  its  beautiful  doorway,  was  built  by  Ensign 
William  King  about  1750  and  remained  in  the  direct  line  of  the 
family  until  1883.  Ensign  William  King  died  in  1791  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  Seth  who  died  in  1846.  The  place  passed  to 
his  son  Deacon  John  A.  King  from  whom  it  passed  in  1869  to  his 
daughters  Martha  and  Jane,  who  sold  it  in  1883  to  James  O. 
Raskins  the  present  owner. 

Gad  Lane  Tavern 

In  a  transfer  of  twenty-five  acres  by  Jared  Huxley  to  Samuel 
Lane  in  1723,  as  given  in  Springfield  Records  (0.301),  it  is 
stated,  "It  lyeth  on  the  west  side  of  oynion  gutter  and  on  the 
west  side  of  John  Remington's  land  and  bounded  partly  on  the 
common."  The  same  year  James  King  transferred  four  acres 
on  Fyler's  brook  to  Samuel  Lane.  In  1725  John  Lane  transferred 
to  Samuel  Lane,  Jr.,  "all  my  interest  in  my  father's  estate."  In 
1727  the  town  laid  out  a  wall  by  Samuel  Lane's  house  "west 
from  Fyler's  brook."  In  1765  Samuel  Lane  transferred  to 
"Grandson  Gad"  forty  acres  south  of  the  way  to  Westfield  and 
west  of  Pine  Plane  brook."  Later  transfers:  1827,  Gad  Lane  to 
Ashbel,  his  son;  1847,  Ashbel  Lane  to  William  Pomeroy;  1848, 
William  Pomeroy  to  Gibson  Lewis  and  Joel  Austin;  1849,  Gib- 
son Lewis  and  Joel  Austin  to  David  Allen;  1888,  David  Allen  to 
Amos  Hunt;  1906,  Amos  Hunt  et  al  to  A.  S.  Kent;  1909,  Albert 
S.  Kent  to  A.  H.  Bridge. 

The  Pool 

In  1807,  Uriah  Austin  sold  to  Ebenezer  King,  Jr.,  and  Fidelio 
King  the  "west  part  of  my  farm  including  the  Pool."  The  pool 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  175 

referred  to  is  a  strong  sulphur  spring  supposed  to  contain  most 
efficient  medicinal  qualities.  The  Kings  immediately  built  a 
large  hotel  on  the  property  and  for  two  or  three  years  business  was 
booming,  but  it  soon  fell  off  and  the  enterprise  proved  a  failure. 
Ebenezer  King  lived  here  until  his  death  in  1824  when  the  prop- 
erty fell  to  his  daughter  Arabella  and  her  husband  "Deacon  Reu- 
ben Granger"  who  conducted  a  popular  boys'  school  here  for 
several  years  before  the  opening  of  the  C.  L.  I.  The  record  of 
transfers  follows:  1853,  Reuben  and  Arabella  Granger  sold  it  to 
Charles  V.  Dyer;  1855,  Charles  V.  Dyer  sold  it  to  Matthew  Laffin; 
1856,  Matthew  Laffin  sold  it  to  Jacob  Loomis;  1860,  Jacob  Loomis 
sold  it  to  Walter  C.  Holcomb;  1864,  Walter  C.  Holcomb  sold  it 
to  Alfred  Spencer;  1892,  Heirs  of  Alfred  Spencer  sold  to  Patrick 
Heavy.  The  old  house  was  recently  burned. 

Seth  Austin  Tavern 

This  large  house  was  known  throughout  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury as  The  Archer  Place,  having  been  the  home  of  Thomas 
Archer  and  his  family  from  1814  on.  Just  when  it  was  built  is 
uncertain,  but  it  was  built  in  two  parts  at  different  times  and  was 
a  famous  tavern  throughout  the  Revolutionary  period  and  ante- 
dates in  part  at  least  1774.  In  1723,  the  records  show  this  land 
belonged  to  Richard  Austin,  Sr.,  son  of  Anthony,  first  school- 
master, and  it  evidently  passed  down  through  the  family,  for  in 
1774  we  find  Richard's  son  Joseph,  who  had  moved  to  Durham, 
Connecticut,  deeding  a  half  interest  in  the  land  and  buildings  to 
his  nephew,  Seth  Austin,  who  owned  and  lived  in  the  other  half. 
Seth  Austin  was  married  in  1754,  and  it  is  quite  likely  that  part 
of  the  house  was  built  as  early  as  that  time.  In  1809,  her  husband 
having  died,  Mrs.  Seth  Austin  deeded  the  place  to  David  King 
and  Samuel  Arnold  and  they  deeded  it  in  181410  Thomas  Archer. 
It  remained  in  the  Archer  family  until  1900,  when  it  was  sold  to 
Chas.  L.  Spencer;  a  part  of  the  old  house  was  destroyed  and 
a  part  was  moved  to  Bridge  Street,  east  of  the  school  house. 

Following  is  the  full  list  of  old  houses  and  sites  marked  by  the 
Historical  Committee  at  the  time  of  the  celebration,  arranged 
according  to  the  streets  or  roads  on  which  they  are  located,  the 
names  of  the  present  owners  being  followed  by  the  names  of 
builders  and  the  dates  so  far  as  available: 


176  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

High  Street 

D.  N.  Carrington — built  by  Capt.  Abraham  Burbank,  1736. 
Mrs.  Osborne  and  Mrs.  Holley — built  by  Ebenezer  Gay,  1742. 
Ralph  Raisbeck — lived  in  by  Jonathan  Rising,  Jr.,  1749. 
Louis  Grabouski — lived  in  by  Jonathan  Rising,  Jr.,  1750. 
K.  C.  Kulle — lived  in  by  Josiah  King,  Jr.,  1762. 
S.  R.  Spencer — built  by  Dr.  Alexander  King,  1764. 
W.  S.  Fuller — built  by  Lieut.  Eliphalet  King  about  1765. 
Mrs.  L.  I.  Fuller — built  by  Moses  Rowe,  1767. 
Mrs.  G.  A.  Harmon — built  by  Squire  Thaddeus  Leavitt,  1773. 
Mrs.  C.  C.  Bissell — lived  in  by  Ebenezer  Hatheway,  1779. 
C.  C.  Austin — built  by  Shadrach  Trumbull,  1779. 

C.  A.  Prout — built  by  Elihu  Kent,  1782-1810. 
Mrs.  J.  O.  Armour — built  by  David  Tod,  1773-95. 
Miss  Atwater — built  by  James  Hall,  1786. 

Masonic  Club — "raised"  by  Luther  Loomis,  April  29,  1790. 
Mrs.  E.  B.  Mather — built  by  Timothy  Swan  1794. 
Mrs.  E.  A.  Fuller — built  by  Dr.  Howard  Alden,  1794. 

D.  R.  Kennedy,  Jr.— built  by  Ebenezer  King,  Jr.,  1795. 

Mrs.  James  H.  Prophet — built  by  Captain  Timothy  Phelps,  1 795 . 
T.  C.  Austin  Sons — built  by  Nathaniel  and  Thomas  Austin,  1797. 
Mrs.  A.  R.  Pierce — built  by  Thaddeus  Leavitt,  Jr.,  1800. 
A.  F.  Warner — lived  in  by  Elihu  Kent  about  1800. 
George  Nichols — built  by  Ebenezer  Nichols,  1806. 
T.  F.  Cavanaugh — built  by  Harvey  Bissell  about  1815. 
J.  H.  Norton  and  S.  C.  Loomis — built  by  Daniel  Norton,  1814. 
W.  E.  Caldwell— built  by  Dr.  Asaph  Bissell,  1823. 
C.  S.  Fuller — built  by  Charles  Shepard,  1824. 
A.  F.  Warner — built  by  Hezekiah  Spencer,  1824. 
Suffield  School — home  lot  of  Gideon  Granger,  Sr.  and  Jr.,  1786- 
1817. 

Boston  Neck 
Miss  Flannigan — built  by  Jacob  Hatheway  about  1747. 

E.  A.  Hatheway — built  by  Charles  Hatheway,  1760. 
William  Morron — built  by  John  McMorron,  1760,  and  moved 

here  about  1810  from  Babylon  Road. 

F.  W.  Brown — built  by  John  Rising,  1765. 

H.  S.  Cowles  Estate — built  by  Asa  Tucker,  1765-74. 

Thomas  Burke — built  by  William  Beckwith,  1784. 

Philip  Schwartz — built  by  John  Dewey,  about  1800. 

E.  C.  Seymour — built  by  Jabez  Heath,  1805. 

Harvey  Fuller —  moved  here  by  Mrs.  Deborah  Morron  about  1 8 10. 

A.  A.  Brown — built  by  Salmon  Ensign,  1812-15. 

G.  W.  Phelps — built  by  Henry  Pease  about  1825. 
Harvey  Fuller— site  of  the  old  Oil  Mill,  1785-1828. 
Philip  Schwartz — site  of  the  corn  mill,  1687. 


House  Built  by  Joseph  Pease  1760;  Taken  Down  1902  (p.  167) 


Seth  Austin  Tavern  (Archer  Place),  Taken  Down  1899  (p.  175) 


Capt.  Medad  Pomeroy  Place,  Built  About  1770  (p.  173) 


Luther  Loomis  Place,  Raised  April  29,  1790  (p.  170) 


Timothy  Swan  House,  Built  1794  (p.  172) 


Gay  Mansion,  Built  by  Ebenezer  King,  Jr.,  1795  (p.  170) 


Two  Corners  in  Parlor  of  Gay  Mansion 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  177 

Feather  Street 

John  Zak — lived  in  by  William  Austin,  1757. 
Charles  Lucas — built  by  Robert  Granger,  about  1760. 
Thomas  F.  Devine — built  by  Samuel  Halladay,  1765. 
Patrick  Quinn — lived  in  by  Horace  King,  1774. 
Frank  Brewster — built  by  Joshua  Kendall,  1799. 
Stanley  Kement — built  by  John  King  about  1805. 

Crooked  Lane 

Fred  Kent — lived  in  by  Posthumous  Sikes,  1739. 

Fred  Clark  Estate — built  by  Joseph  Winchell  before  1742. 

B.  A.  Thompson — built  by  Joseph  King  3d,  1769. 
Kirk  Jones — lived  in  by  Zebulon  Adams,  1773. 
Henry  Fuller — built  by  Zeno  Terry,  1783-7. 
Henry  Phillips — built  by  Thaddeus  Sikes,  1809. 

South  Street 

Mrs.  C.  C.  Bissell — built  by  Jonathan  Fowler,  1723. 
Edward  Welch — built  by  Ensign  Samuel  Spencer  about  1770. 
Hugh  Scott — built  by  Asa  Rising,  1791. 
John  Cain — site  of  middle  iron  works,  1720. 

Sheldon  Street 

C.  Michel — built  by  Capt.  Jonathan  Sheldon,  1723. 

O.  R.  Sheldon — built  by  Squire  Phinehas  Sheldon,  1743. 
Mrs.  J.  O.  Armour — built  by  Martin  Sheldon,  1789. 
J.  J.  Devine — built  by  Cephas  Harmon  about  1790. 
H.  A.  Sheldon — built  by  Erastus  Sheldon,  1795. 
C.  B.  Sheldon — built  by  Benjamin  Sheldon,  1806. 

North  Grand  Street 

S.  L.  Wood — built  by  Freegrace  Norton  about  1725. 
John  H.  Gregg — lived  in  by  Moses  Spear  about  1750. 
F.  S.  Briggs — built  by  David  Hanchett,  1765. 
Arthur  Taylor — built  by  Capt.  Isaac  Pomeroy,  1769-73. 

South  Grand  Street 

George  A.  Sheldon — built  by  Sylvanus  Griswold,  1763. 
P.  D.  Lillie — lived  in  by  Gideon  King,  1767. 
Michael  Zukowski — built  by  Hezekiah  Lewis,  1781. 
George  Sheldon — site  of  west  iron  works,  1722. 

North  Street 

J.  O.  Haskins — built  by  William  King  about  1750. 

E.  H.  Halladay — built  by  Jonathan  Underwood,  1768-77. 

E.  N.  Stratton — built  by  Simon  Kendall,  Jr.,  1809. 


178  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

Halladay  Avenue 

A.  H.  Bridge — built  by  Samuel  Lane    by  1726. 
George  A.  Kent — lived  in  by  Seth  Kent,  1762. 
Howard  Halladay — lived  in  by  Jeremiah  Granger,  1772. 
George  F.  King — built  by  Thaddeus  King,  1774. 

West  Suffield  Road 

Guisepi  Romano — built  by  Victory  Sikes,  1728. 
M.  H.  Kent  Estate — built  by  Asa  Remington  by  1800. 
Mrs.  Anna  Roche — built  by  Deacon  Reuben  Parsons,  1767. 
T.  Harvey  Smith — built  by  Capt.  Medad  Pomeroy  about  1770. 
C.  H.  Nelson — built  probably  by  Gideon  King  about  1797. 

A.  G.  Bissell — built  by  Capt.  Oliver  Hanchett,  1798. 
S.  K.  Legare — built  by  Benajah  Kent,  1800. 

Mrs.  C.  F.  Whittemore — built  by  Barlow  Rose,  1816. 

Hill  Street 

N.  R.  Lewis — built  by  Daniel  Remington  about  1750. 
H.  E.  Hastings — built  by  Samuel  Phelps,  1768-71. 
Timothy  Miskell — built  by  Gurdon  Grosvenor,  1818. 
G.  A.  Peckham — built  by  Warren  Lewis,  1824. 

Taintor  Hill 

B.  M.  Gillett — built  by  Ebenezer  Smith  about  1724. 

J.  R.  Granger  Estate — built  by  Capt.  John  Granger,  1728. 

Prospect  Street 

Alfred  SpencerJCo. — built  by  Daniel  Spencer,  1726-47. 
John  Matyskiela — built  by  Squire  Samuel  Hale,  1768. 

Rising  Corners 
L.  F.  Hart — built  by  Aaron  Rising  about  1750. 

Foot  of  the  Mountain 

Mrs  Sophie  [Milski — sold  by  Silas   Kent  to  Ebenezer  Harmon 

1766 
William  Kurias — built  by  Horatio  King  1812 

Over  the  Mountain 

Samuel  A.  Graham —  built  by  Judah  Phelps  about  1790 
American  Sumatra  Co. — built  by  Dan  Phelps  about  1780 

Old  Factory  Road 
Joseph  Beloski — site  of  the  fulling  mill  1710 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 


Turnpikes  and  Taverns 

As  early  certainly  as  the  first  settlement  in  the  Connecticut 
valley  two  important  thoroughfares  met  near  Stony  Brook, 
not  far  from  the  upper  end  of  South  Street.  At  first  only  paths 
or  trails  and  passable  only  for  men  and  horses,  they  were  after- 
wards made  feasible  for  carts  and  still  later  for  stages.  South 
Street  was  the  road  up  from  the  Windsor  settlement,  and  at 
Stony  Brook  one  road  led  on  through  what  is  now  Remington 
Street  and  the  Hill  road  to  Westfield,  whence  ran  a  road  toNorth- 
hampton,  and  another  over  the  hills  to  the  Hudson  and  Albany. 
The  other  road,  branching  from  the  junction  at  Stony  Brook, 
followed  the  present  course  of  Main  Street  and  Crooked  Lane  to 
Springfield  and  was  the  course  taken  to  Boston.  Both  these 
roads  were  laid  out  as  public  highways  by  Hampshire  County 
about  six  years  before  the  settlement  of  Suffield.  For  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  these  turnpikes  passing  through  Suffield 
were  main  lines  of  travel,  first  by  horseback  and  later  by  stage, 
and  especially  that  between  New  York  and  Boston. 

The  old  taverns  were  a  natural  and  essential  development  from 
this  travel  and  other  conditions,  and  were  not  merely  the  stop- 
ping places  for  travelers,  but  served  as  community  centers  and 
for  receiving  and  despatching  the  mails. 

Tavern  proprietors  were  men  of  prominence  in  both  town  and 
church  with  few|exceptions.  To  run  a  tavern  successfully  for  a 
series  of  years  was  a  certain  means  of  promotion  in  social  rank. 
A  study  of  the  old  deeds  shows  that  innkeepers  progressed 
rapidly  to  the  rank  of  gentlemen  and  were  often  among  the  first 
considered  in  the  difficult  task  of  seating  in  the  Meeting  House. 
At  one  period  it  is  tradition  that  there  were  twelve  thriving 
taverns  in  Suffield.  The  following  is  a  typical  form  of  early 
license  by  the  Hampshire  County  Court:  "George  Norton  is 
Lycenced  to  keep  a  publique  house  of  Entertainment  within 
ye  town  of  Suffield  &  to  sell  Lyquors  to  travelers,  he  keeping 
good  order  in  his  house  and  doing  sd  work  faithefully  &  with- 
out offence." 

George  Norton  who  came  from  Ipswich  in  1674  was  one  of  the 
early  innkeepers.  He  was  a  freeman  in  1681,  selectman  and  the 


ISO  SUFFIELD    OLD   AND    NEW 

first  representative  from  Suffield  to  the  General  Court  at  Boston. 
He  died  in  1693  but  the  Hampshire  County  records  show  that 
the  license  was  issued  regularly  to  his  widow,  Mercy  Norton, 
who  did  not  die  until  1725.  George  Norton's  original  allotment 
was  on  the  west  side  of  High  Street  opposite  the  Boston  Neck 
road,  and  may  have  been  the  site  of  his  tavern. 

Thomas  Huxley,  who  came  to  Suffield  in  1678,  was  licensed 
to  keep  a  public  house  in  1686,  and  it  was  situated  for  a  long 
period  where  the  house  recently  known  as  the  Thaddeus  Spencer 
place  stands.  He  was  one  of  the  first  freemen,  and  held  many 
important  town  offices  including  that  of  selectman. 

Captain  Aaron  Hitchcock  was  an  innkeeper  and  for  half  a  cen- 
tury a  prominent  man  in  the  town — town  clerk  for  thirteen  years 
and  town  treasurer  for  twenty  years.  Gad  Lane's  tavern  was  a 
prominent  one  of  its  day  and  is  illustrated  among  the  old  houses. 
A  notable  one  in  the  Revolutionary  period  was  that  of  Seth 
Austin  in  what  was  later  known  as  the  Archer  place  (also  il- 
lustrated). Eliphalet  King  kept  a  tavern  in  the  house  now  owned 
by  William  S.  Fuller,  and  the  Pease  tavern  at  one  time  was 
prominent.  The  house  on  Feather  Street  at  the  corner  of  the 
road  formerly  leading  to  Enfield  bridge — later  known  as  the 
Napoleon  Adams  place  and  the  home  of  the  late  Willis  Adams, 
the  artist — was  a  tavern  for  a  considerable  period. 

With  the  coming  of  the  railroads  the  long  era  of  tavern  and 
turnpike  was  doomed.  From  the  old  roads  that  had  held  Suffield 
in  the  channel  of  through  travel  the  stage  coaches  and  the  lum- 
bering carts  and  wagons  carrying  merchandise  up  and  down  the 
valley  disappeared,  while  the  taverns,  losing  their  outside  pat- 
ronage, rapidly  declined  and  in  time  either  went  out  of  business 
or  changed  their  characters.  A  stage  was  run  to  and  from  Wind- 
sor Locks  regularly,  and  for  a  considerable  period  Wilkes  Tavern 
was  a  prominent  landmark  on  the  north  corner  of  Day  Avenue, 
but  the  building  was  many  years  ago  removed  to  Depot  Street 
where,  as  the  Bee  Hive,  it  had  a  varied  career,  until  burned 
about  ten  years  ago.  The  Suffield  House  which  Samuel  Knox 
bought,  together  with  the  Windsor  Locks  stage  line,  when  he 
came  to  Suffield  in  1866,  and  which  for  many  years  was  con- 
ducted by  his  sons  Waldo  and  Wallace,  is  the  sole  survivor  in 
Suffield  of  tavern  days. 


Dining  Room  in  Gay  Mansion 


A  Bed  Room  in  Gav  Mansion 


Hall  in  Gay  Mansion 


The  Pool,  Built  by  Ebenczer  King,  Jr.,  About  1808  (p.  174) 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  l8l 

Crooked  Lane 

Contrary  to  what  many  may  suppose,  the  old  Springfield 
Road  gained  its  ancient  name  of  Crooked  Lane,  not  because  of 
its  own  deviations  from  a  straight  course,  but  from  the  sharp 
bend  in  the  cross  road  to  Halladay  Corner.  October  10,  1680 
the  committee  for  settling  the  town  of  Suffield  granted  allot- 
ments for  homesteads  "beyond  or  at  the  upper  end  of  High 
Street"  to  Victory  Sikes,  Thomas  Cooper,  Luke  Hitchcock, 
John  Barber,  James,  Jonathan  and  Samuel  Taylor  and  William 
and  Ebenezer  Brooks.  The  tract  lay  between  upper  High  Street 
on  the  west  and  the  Springfield  Road  on  the  east,  and  just  north 
of  a  grant  already  made  to  David  Froe.  There  was  to  be  a  high- 
way on  the  south  between  them  "ten  or  twelve  rods  wide." 
But  in  1684  the  town  voted  "seven  rods  wide  out  of  it  to  be 
given  to  David  Froe  on  the  south."  This  left  the  road  a  mere  lane 
or  "driftway".  Mr.  Sheldon  found  no  record  that  the  town  ever 
laid  it  out  as  a  highway. 

This  lane  had  an  "elbow  or  crook  about  the  middle  or  where 
the  brook  runs  through"  and  the  lots  conforming  therewith  were 
correspondingly  crooked.  This  fact  was  not  mentioned  in  the 
first  records  leaving  only  straight  lines  to  be  inferred.  To  remedy 
this  omission  and  "lest  any  of  the  present  proprietors,  or  any 
of  their  heirs  or  successors  in  after  generations  should,  out  of  a 
cross  humor  or  for  some  sinister  end,  call  or  challenge  a  straight 
line,  which  could  not  be  denied,  for  both  law  and  reason  would 
enforce  the  same,  where  nothing  in  the  record  or  otherwise  is 
exprest  to  the  contrary,"  the  proprietors  made,  signed  and  had 
recorded  an  agreement  April  19,  1697  that  "all  the  lots  should 
run  with  an  elbow  or  crook  as  it  now  does"  and  "so  to  continue 
from  one  generation  to  another  forever." 

These  lots  became  known  as  the  Crooked  Lane  lots,  and 
Crooked  Lane  soon  supplanted  the  "Springfield  Road."  Its 
ancient  and  honorable  name  held  sway  for  about  two  hundred 
years,  or  until  some  twenty  years  ago  when  the  question  of  a 
branch  postoffice  arose,  and  the  name  Crooked  Lane  did  not 
conform  to  the  regulations  of  the  United  States  postoffice  de- 
partment for  postoffices.  With  some  regrets  and  against  the 
protests  of  many,  the  name  was  changed  to  Mapleton.  The 


l82  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

postoffice  was  conducted  only  a  few  years  at  the  home  of  Arthur 
Sikes,  when  rural  free  delivery  routes  were  established. 

The  Postoffice 

For  over  a  century  the  taverns  were  the  postoffices  of  the  old 
towns  and  Suffield  was  no  exception.  This  was  a  natural  devel- 
opment of  the  practice  originating  at  the  ports  of  taking  the 
incoming  ship's  mail  to  a  specified  tavern  where  it  was  spread 
out  on  a  table  to  be  called  for.  As  the  settlements  extended  into 
the  Connecticut  valley,  the  taverns  became  the  stopping  places 
of  the  early  post  riders  and  so  continued  long  after  the  stage 
lines  were  established.  At  about  the  time  of  the  settlement  of 
Suffield,  the  Colonial  Government  of  New  York  established  a 
monthly  mail  to  Boston  and  some  thirty  years  later  this  was 
changed  to  a  fortnightly  service,  the  messengers  meeting  alter- 
nately at  Hartford  and  Saybrook.  The  former  route  passed 
through  Suffield. 

When  in  1753  Benjamin  Franklin  became  Deputy  Post- 
master General  of  the  colonies  by  the  King's  appointment  he 
proceeded  to  systematize  the  routes,  and  it  is  said  that  he 
personally  went  over  the  main  routes.  The  tradition  that  in  that 
year  he  went  over  the  route  through  Suffield  is  undoubtedly 
correct.  He  records  the  fact  that  on  this  journey  Yale  first  and 
then  Harvard  gave  him  the  degree  of  master  of  arts.  Forty 
years  afterward  Congress  passed  its  first  act  for  the  Federal  ad- 
ministration of  postoffices  and  the  records  show  that  the  post- 
office  at  Suffield  began  to  make  quarterly  returns  on  October 
i ,  1 796.  Hezekiah  Huntington  was  the  first  postmaster  of  record. 

The  succession  of  Suffield  postmasters  to  the  present  time  has 
been  as  follows:  Hezekiah  Huntington,  1796-8;  William  Gay, 
1798-1835;  Odiah  L.  Sheldon,  1835-41;  Horace  Sheldon  2d, 
1841-2;  George  A.  Loomis,  1842-50;  Samuel  B.  Low,  1850-53; 
George  Williston,  1853-61;  David  Hale,  1861-9;  Richard  Jobes, 
1869-70;  Edward  E.  Nichols,  1870-72;  Miss  M.  Maria  Nichols, 
1872-4;  Miss  Ella  S.  Nichols,  1874-81;  Frank  H.  Reid,  1881-5; 
Alonzo  C.  Allen,  1885-91;  Richard  Jobes,  1891-08;  Edmund 
Halladay,  1908-13.  Edward  Perkins,  the  present  postmaster, 
was  appointed  May  20,  1913.  The  rural  free  delivery  route  No.  I 
was  established  December  15,  1900;  No.  2,  October  15,  1901. 
Village  delivery  was  established  April  16,  1918. 


CIVIL  WAR  DAYS  AND  SINCE 


At  certain  periods  events  or  conditions  of  trade  or  industry 
have  produced  changes  in  the  population  of  Suffield,  but  for 
about  one  hundred  years  after  the  settlement,  nearly  the  whole 
growing  population  was  embraced  by  the  family  names  of  the  first 
settlers  or  proprietors.  Families  were  large,  cousins  and  second 
cousins  multiplied,  and  the  children  so  intermarried  that  by  the 
time  of  the  Revolution  the  blood  of  the  proprietors  mingled  in 
most  of  the  population.  More  than  eighty  per  cent  of  the  young 
men  enlisted  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars  bore  the  old  family 
names.  There  were  new  names  in  the  army  rolls  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, but  they  were  in  the  minority  and  in  the  main  were  the 
names  of  families  that  had  soon  followed  the  first  settlers  to  the 
town.  For  a  period  after  the  Revolution,  it  is  probable  that  the 
industrial  enterprises — the  iron  works,  cotton  and  other  mills 
— brought  in  new  families,  but  in  about  the  same  period  branches 
of  the  old  Suffield  families  were  established  in  other  places.  The 
speculative  land  fever  took  many  to  western  New  York,  Ohio, 
Indiana  and  later  to  Michigan  and  other  future  States. 

In  1786  Connecticut  ceded  to  the  United  States  all  her  rights 
and  title  within  her  ancient  charter  limits,  and  in  this  first  set- 
tlement received  a  tract  of  land  of  about  3,600,000  acres  in  the 
northeastern  part  of  the  Ohio  territory  known  as  the  Connecti- 
cut Reserve.  In  May  1795  the  Connecticut  Legislature  appointed 
a  committee  of  eight  persons  to  make  sale  of  the  lands,  and  to 
appropriate  the  proceeds  to  a  permanent  fund,  the  interest  of 
which  should  be  annually  distributed  among  the  several  school 
societies  of  the  State.  Two  of  the  committee,  Samuel  Hale  and 
Gideon  Granger  Jr.,  were  Suifield  men.  In  December  of  the 
same  year  this  committee  disposed  of  the  tract  to  Oliver  Phelps, 
as  agent  for  the  Connecticut  Land  company,  for  the  sum  of 
$1,200,000,  payable  in  five  years  with  annual  interest  after  two 
years.  Oliver  Phelps,  who  was  born  in  1749,  had  been  engaged 
in  business  in  Suffield  and  Granville,  Mass.,  and  had  acquired  a 
considerable  fortune.  He  had  already  been  engaged  in  extensive 
land  speculations  in  the  West,  having  been  a  partner  in  the  pur- 


184  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

chase  from  Massachusetts  of  about  two  million  acres  of  land 
now  comprised  in  Ontario  and  Steuben  counties,  N.  Y.  This  had 
been  a  profitable  speculation  apparently  and  genealogical  re- 
cords show  that  several  Suffield  people  moved  to  this  region. 
Besides  the  towns  of  Phelps  and  Granger,  Ontario  county  has 
several  towns  duplicating  Hartford  county  names 

The  other  Suffield  men  interested  with  Phelps  in  the  purchase 
of  the  Western  Reserve  lands  were  Gideon  Granger,  Jr.,  Luther 
Loomis,  Ebenezer  King,  David  King,  Asahel  Hatheway,  and 
Sylvanus  Griswold.  Their  aggregate  share  in  the  purchase  was 
$330,916  and  of  this  it  is  said  that  Oliver  Phelps  had  something 
more  than  one-half,  and  Ebenezer  King  and  Luther  Loomis 
together  about  one-quarter.  It  proved  an  unfortunate  specula- 
tion for  those  who  remained  in  it.  Ohio  established  a  territorial 
government  in  1800  and  Connecticut  ceded  her  rights.  None  of 
the  Suffield  members  of  the  company  settled  in  the  reserve  ex- 
cept possibly  David  King.  Oliver  Phelps  sold  the  Burbank  place 
to  Asahel  Hatheway,  and  Ebenezer  King  his  new  mansion  to 
William  Gay  and  both  moved  to  Canandaigua  in  Ontario  county 
N.  Y. 

A  few  years  later,  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  came  the 
change  that  ever  since  has  much  affected  the  population  of  the 
town — the  development  of  the  tobacco  and  cigar  industry.  As 
elsewhere  stated  the  cigar  industry  came  first  and  brought  in 
several  families  of  prominence. 

It  was  a  strong  body  of  men,  many  of  them  descendents  of  old 
families  that  led  in  the  affairs  of  the  town  at  the  period  of  the 
Bi-centennial  Celebration.  Most  of  them  had  been  born  near 
the  beginning  of  the  century  and  had  actively  participated  in  the 
material  advancement  of  the  town  during  the  years  before  the 
war  and  had  been  the  leaders  in  town  affairs  in  the  trying  period 
of  war  and  reconstruction.  Some  of  them  have  been  mentioned 
elsewhere  in  connection  with  the  institutions  or  enterprises  of 
the  town.  Some  of  them,  already  advanced  in  years  died  soon 
after  the  celebration,  while  others  younger  became  the  men  of 
influence  in  the  seventies  and  eighties. 

The  committee  chosen  by  the  town  to  inaugurate  the  celebra- 
tion was  a  representative  list  of  the  leading  citizens  of  that  gen- 
eration. It  consisted  of  Daniel  W.  Norton,  Simon  B.  Kendall, 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  185 

Samuel  Austin,  Gad  Sheldon,  Elihu  S.  Taylor,  Henry  Fuller, 
Albert  Austin,  William  L.  Loomis,  Milton  Hatheway,  Dr.  Aretas 
Rising,  Edward  P.  Stevens,  George  Fuller,  Hezekiah  Spencer, 
Artemas  King,  Henry  P.  Kent,  Byron  Loomis,  Thaddeus  H. 
Spencer,  George  A.  Douglass,  Silas  W.  Clark,  Hezekiah  S.  Shel- 
don, Hiram  K.  Granger,  Thomas  J.  Austin,  Alfred  Spencer, 
James  B.  Rose,  Warren  Lewis,  Nathan  Clark,  L.  Z.  Sykes,  Julius 
Harmon,  Burdett  Loomis,  I.  Luther  Spencer,  Benjamin  F. 
Hastings,  Frank  P.  Loomis,  Charles  A.  Chapman,  William  E. 
Harmon,  Horace  K.  Ford,  Ralph  P.  Mather,  John  M.  Hatheway 
and  Henry  M.  Sykes. 

About  the  middle  of  the  century  the  change  in  agricultural 
conditions  through  the  development  of  Connecticut  seed  leaf 
for  cigar  wrappers  had  brought  in  farm  labor  that  later  estab- 
lished prominent  Catholic  families  in  town.  Among  these  men 
were  Timothy  Miskell,  Patrick  and  John  Haley,  John  Gilligan, 
John  F.  Barnett,  Patrick  O'Brien,  John  Welch,  Patrick  Carroll, 
John  Sliney,  Edward  Cooney,  Patrick  Devine.  Joseph  Roche, 
Peter  Shea,  John  Dineen  and  Robert  Obram. 

From  the  forties,  when  Orrin  Haskins  and  Silas  W.  Clark  came 
from  Washington,  Mass.,  the  town  for  a  period  of  thirty  years 
gained  many  substantial  families  through  men  of  old  New  Eng- 
land stock  whose  ancestors  had  early  established  themselves 
on  the  post  roads  of  the  hill  towns  of  Western  Massachusetts — 
towns  that  with  the  coming  of  the  railroads  began  to  lose  their 
old  advantages  and  importance.  Following  Silas  Clark,  came 
his  brother  Nathan,  William  and  Ebenezer  Ballantine,  Edwin  A. 
andAlmon  Russell,  Franklin  and  Benajah  Brockett,  Henry  D. 
Tinker,  Samuel  and  Hiram  Knox,  William  and  Abel  Peckham, 
James  and  H.  K.  Spellman,  Amos  and  James  Chapell, 
William  Soper  and  Clark  Corey,  all  of  whom  purchased  old 
Suffield  farms.  Leverett  Sackett  purchased  the  property 
north  of  the  Town  Hall,  and  his  son  Horace  conducted 
a  general  store  there  for  many  years.  The  Graves  brothers  came 
from  Middlefield,  and  for  a  long  period  conducted  the  meat 
business  of  the  town.  Albert  Pierce  came  from  Vermont  and 
purchased  the  Thaddeus  Leavitt,  Jr.,  place  from  Albert  Austin. 

Asa  L.  Strong  came  to  Suffield  from  Northampton  in  1871  and 
established  a  drug  store,  located  at  first  next  to  the  postoffice 


186  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

and  where  Martinez'  store  now  is,  but  he  moved  to  the  Loomis 
block,  now  the  Cooper  block,  in  1876.  He  conducted  the  local 
pharmacy  for  over  forty  years. 

Warren  W.  Cooper  first  came  to  Suffield  in  1857  and  drove  the 
stage  from  Suffield  to  Windsor  Locks.  He  went  west  for  a  period 
and  returning  to  Suffield  established  a  coal  business  in  1874  an<^ 
gradually  extended  it  into  a  general  business,  later  acquired  by 
Clinton  and  Samuel  R.  Spencer  and  now  conducted  by  Spencer 
Brothers,  Inc. 

Early  in  the  seventies  a  group  of  Irish  Protestant  families 
came  to  Suffield  and  later  acquired  some  of  the  fine  old  farms  of 
the  town — the  Barrs,  Colters,  Grahams,  McCarls,  Orrs,  Adam- 
ses, Firtions,  Barriesfords  and  others. 

The  considerable  extension  of  tobacco  acreage  in  the  nineties 
creating  a  larger  demand  for  labor  was  coincident  with  a  large 
immigration  to  this  country  from  Central  Europe  and  particu- 
larly from  Poland.  The  Poles  quickly  became  the  chief  reliance 
for  farm  help.  Industrious  and  in  the  main  thrifty,  they  soon 
began  to  acquire  good  tobacco  farms  and  in  a  period  of  little 
more  than  twenty-five  years  they  have  become  25  per  cent,  of 
the  population. 

Tobacco 

Though  some  tobacco  was  raised  by  the  planters  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut  colonies,  it  was  mainly  in  small 
patches  and  for  their  own  use.  From  time  to  time  both  colonies 
passed  restrictive  laws  and  it  was  not  an  extensive  crop  in 
Suffield  until  the  nineteenth  century.  Whenever  in  the  earlier 
period  the  town  by  vote  established  the  prices  at  which  farm 
products  should  be  received  as  town  pay,  tobacco  was  not  in- 
cluded. 

The  cigar  industry  began  in  Suffield  before  extensive  tobacco 
growing.  Soon  after  the  peace  of  1783  cigars  began  to  be  im- 
ported from  the  West  Indies.  Suffield  was  probably  the  first 
town  in  New  England  to  make  cigars — certainly  to  any  great 
extent.  In  1810  Simeon  Veits,  who  lived  in  West  Suffield,  began 
to  employ  and  to  teach  women  to  roll  cigars  for  sale.  He  hired  a 
Cuban,  who  seems  to  have  drifted  into  town,  to  instruct  them 
n  the  art.  Some  native  but  mostly  cheaper  kinds  of  Cuban 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  l8/ 

tobacco  was  used.  Veits  continued  to  employ  women  and  to 
send  out  peddlers  to  sell  "the  real  Spanish  cigars"  until  1821, 
when  he  failed  and  some  years  later,  1838,  died  penniless,  though 
he  had  established  an  industry. 

Among  the  first  peddlers  he  employed  were  the  Loomis 
brothers — James,  Parks,  Allen,  Neland,  Aaron  and  Wells — who 
soon  after  his  failure  began  manufacturing  cigars  and  laid  the 
foundation  for  ample  fortunes.  Between  1821  and  1831  other 
Suffield  men  embarked  in  the  enterprise;  among  them  were 
Jabez  Heath,  Henry  P.  Kent,  Moses,  Samuel  and  Homer  Austin, 
and  Robert  B.  Dennison.  Within  this  period  the  art  of  making 
cigars  was  so  generally  acquired  and  the  demand  for  the  product 
so  great  that  the  spinning  wheel,  the  loom  and  the  dairy  gave 
place  to  the  cigar  table  and  the  cuttingboard.  From  1830  to 
1850  a  large  number  of  the  families  of  Suffield  depended  upon 
cigars  or  "supes"  made  by  deft  fingers  of  their  own  household 
for  their  store  supplies.  Most  of  the  merchants  were  glad  to  ex- 
change their  goods  for  cigars  at  from  $i  to  $1.50  a  thousand. 
At  that  time  the  Connecticut  tobacco  from  which  they  were 
generally  made  was  not  marketable  for  any  other  purpose.  It 
was  customary  to  strip  off  the  bottom  leaves  for  cigars  as  soon 
as  tobacco  began  to  cure  on  the  poles,  but  the  art  of  sweating, 
packing  and  pressing  was  unknown  or  unpracticed.  When  this 
change  was  made,  shortly  before  the  Civil  War,  it  worked  a  revo- 
lution in  the  industry  and  made  Connecticut  Seed  Leaf  the  finest 
tobacco  then  known  for  wrappers.  It  became  too  valuable  to 
work  up  into  the  old  "supes"  and  this  branch  of  female  industry 
was  abandoned. 

The  pioneers  in  this  change  were  Henry  P.  Kent  and  Henry 
Endress.  The  latter  came  to  Suffield  in  1827  and  went  to  work 
making  cigars  for  Preserved  Allen.  In  giving  his  recollections 
some  years  ago  to  Mr.  H.  S.  Sheldon  he  said  that  Connecticut 
tobacco  was  not  used  to  any  extent  to  make  good  cigars  till  1845. 
A  man  by  the  name  of  Phelps  in  Warehouse  Point  first  began 
packing  it  in  boxes,  sometime  in  the  thirties,  but  Cuban  tobacco 
held  its  own  some  years  longer. 

Notes  left  by  Mr.  Sheldon  for  the  decades  from  1850  to  1870 
indicate  that  the  value  of  the  tobacco  crop  in  1850  put  in  cases 
was  not  more  than  $33,000,  while  the  value  of  the  cigars  manu- 


l88  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

factured  in  town  totaled  $165,000.  The  different  manufacturers 
employed  152  men  and  80  women.  In  the  order  of  the  volume  of 
business  the  principal  manufacturers  at  that  time  were  Samuel 
Austin,  Henry  P.  Kent,  Samuel  N.  Reid,  H.  A.  &  R.  Loomis, 
Charles  Mather,  Aaron  Loomis,  William  H.  Hanchett,  Henry 
Endress,  Neland  Loomis,  and  John  W.  Loomis.  The  annual 
output  of  these  factories  was  11,340,000  cigars,  while  eleven 
other  smaller  manufacturers  produced  3,142,000,  the  total  being 
14,482,000.  They  used  about  one  pound  of  Connecticut  Seed 
to  five  pounds  of  Spanish  or  Cuban  tobacco. 

The  value  of  the  cigar  product  increased  steadily  for  the  next 
twenty  years  and  the  growth  of  Connecticut  Seed  in  town  ap- 
pears to  have  increased  from  about  109,000  pounds  in  1850  to 
720,000  pounds  in  1870,  while  the  value  of  the  cigar  product  rose 
to  nearly  $300,000  a  year.  At  that  time  most  of  the  pioneers  had 
gone  out  of  business.  J.  W.  Loomis  was  then  the  largest  manu- 
facturer and  among  the  new  names  were  Joseph  Wallace,  Robert 
F.  Brome,  Philip  Lipps,  William  R.  Cherry,  Benjamin  Wood, 
Richard  Jobes,  Austin  &  Burbank,  B.  F.  Hastings,  C.  L. 
Humason,  and  Andrew  Martinez.  Later  William  Drake  es- 
tablished an  extensive  manufacturing  business,  afterwards  con- 
ducted by  L.  P.  Bissell,  and  at  his  death  acquired  by  Karl  C. 
Kulle. 

By  1870  the  cigar  industry  in  other  places  had  had  an  exten- 
sive growth  and  a  large  market  for  Connecticut  Seed  developed 
in  New  York.  There  were  about  300  growers  in  town,  the  acre- 
age of  each  being  small.  The  farmers  usually  assorted  their  own 
crops  into  wrappers,  seconds  and  fillers,  and  wrappers  usually 
commanded  about  forty  cents  a  pound. 

In  the  next  decade,  or  along  in  the  eighties,  the  practice  of 
growing  Havana  Seed  developed,  and  the  cultivation  of  Connec- 
ticut Seed  in  Suffield  practically  ceased  for  a  period.  At  about 
the  same  time  methods  of  cultivation  changed,  mechanical 
planters  took  the  place  of  the  old  hand  planting,  lath  took  the 
place  of  twine  and  the  acreage  increased,  though  the  weight  per 
acre  decreased  with  the  lighter  leaf.  As  a  result  the  large  dealers 
began  to  establish  packing  houses  in  the  town  and  the  leaf, 
bought  unsorted,  was  more  thoroughly  graded  by  length  and 
color.  These  and  other  changes  including  a  large  increase  in 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  189 

acreage  have  taken  place  in  the  last  forty  years  and  more  re- 
cently the  development  of  large  plantations  controlled  by  syn- 
dicates or  stock  companies  and  raising  large  acreage  under  cloth. 
In  all  these  changes  the  pre-eminence  of  Suffield  leaf  for  cigar 
manufacture  has  been  maintained. 

Suffield  in  the  Wars 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  Suffield  numbered  3260  in- 
habitants. About  350  were  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and 
forty-five,  subject  to  military  duty,  and  the  names  of  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty-six  are  on  the  honor  roll.  Three  companies  were 
recruited  at  Suffield.  The  first  in  response  to  the  call  of  the  Presi- 
dent in  April,  1861,  was  mustered  into  the  service  as  Company 
C,  Fourth  Regiment,  Connecticut  Infantry,  May  23,  1861.  This 
regiment  was  changed  June  2,  1862,  to  First  Regiment  Connec- 
ticut Heavy  Artillery,  and  ranked  as  the  best  in  the  field.  Forty- 
eight  men,  most  of  them  residents  of  the  town,  were  accredited  to 
Suffield.  Thirty-two  served  three  years.  Twelve  of  these  re-en- 
listed as  veterans,  and  served  through  the  war,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Eben  P.  Hall,  who  died  of  his  wounds  July  12,  1865. 
Their  names  were:  Charles  G.  Ball,  Eben  P.  Hall,  Ezra  W.  Bar- 
num,  Heman  A.  Cone,  John  Galvin,  John  P.  Rheim,  Joseph 
Walker,  Justus  Vogt,  Oscar  H.  Graham,  Peter  M.  Hall,  William 
H.  Proctor,  William  H.  Ramsdell.  Captain  Rolland  S.  Burbank 
commanded  the  company  from  its  organization,  until  his  resigna- 
tion, Feb.  2,  1863.  Willis  A.  Pomeroy  was  his  First  Lieutenant, 
but  soon  resigned.  William  Soby,  his  Second  Lieutenant,  also 
resigned  and  re-enlisted  in  the  Seventh  Connecticut  (General 
Hawley's  regiment).  He  was  wounded  at  Pocotaligo,  and  died 
of  his  wounds,  Nov.  9,  1862. 

The  second  company  recruited  in  Suffield  was  Company  D, 
Sixteenth  Regiment  Connecticut  Infantry,  in  July  and  August, 
1862,  for  three  years'  service.  Sixty-four  men  of  this  company 
were  accredited  to  Suffield.  This  company  of  raw  recruits  left 
the  State  August  29,  1862,  and  within  twenty  days  were  thrust 
into  the  front  of  the  fight  in  the  battle  of  Antietam,  at  Sharps- 
burg,  Md.  Four — Horace  Warner,  George  W.  Allen,  Henry 
Barnett,  Nelson  E.  Snow, — were  killed  in  battle;  three — Joseph 


I9O  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

Pockett,  David  B.  Carrier,  John  B.  Letcher — died  of  wounds; 
eight  were  wounded  and  discharged;  three — Franklin  Allen, 
John  L.  Winchell,  Joseph  Hoskins — died  in  Andersonville 
prison;  two — Orlando  E.  Snow,  George  J.  Pierce — died  at  Flor- 
ence, S.  C;  George  W.  Carter  was  drowned  and  Daniel  Bont  died 
of  disease. 

The  third  conpany  was  Company  G,  Twenty-second  Regiment 
Connecticut  Infantry  recruited,  in  September,  1862.  This  was 
the  first  regiment  in  Connecticut,  recruited  for  nine  months 
service.  The  company  numbered  ninety-five  men.  Seventy-two 
were  accredited  to  Suffield,  and  the  remainder  to  the  town  of 
Union.  The  company  was  mustered  out  July  7,  1863,  at  Hart- 
ford, after  more  than  ten  months'  service  from  the  date  of  its 
enlistment. 

The  town  furnished  thirty-seven  men  to  the  Twenty-ninth 
Regiment  (colored).  They  were  recruited  chiefly  in  December, 
1863.  They  were  mustered  into  the  United  States  service  March 
8,  1864,  and  discharged  at  Hartford,  Nov.  25,  1865,  with  a  most 
honorable  record.  On  the  morning  of  April  3,  1865,  when  Rich- 
mond was  abandoned  by  Lee's  forces,  a  strife  to  be  the  first  to 
enter  the  city  took  place.  That  honor  was  conceded  to  have  be- 
longed to  Companies  C  and  G  of  the  Twenty-ninth  Connecticut 
Regiment.  Twelve  Suffield  recruits  were  in  Company  C  and 
shared  in  that  honor.  The  remainder  of  Suffield's  quota  were 
enrolled  in  other  regiments.  Twenty-two  names  are  found  in  the 
roll  of  the  Seventh  Connecticut  Regiment.  Of  these,  Luther  L. 
Archer  was  wounded  at  Fort  Wagner,  and  William  M.  Reeves 
and  Oscar  L.  Smith  were  killed  July  n,  1863. 

The  Soldiers  Monument 

The  first  effort  to  erect  a  monument  to  the  soldiers  of  the  Civil 
War  was  in  the  annual  town  meeting  October  2,  1865  and  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  secure  estimates.  It  reported  in  Novem- 
ber that  it  would  cost  $2000  and  an  appropriation  was  made 
but  the  effort  failed,  and  in  February  1866  the  appropriation 
was  rescinded  and  the  committee  discharged. 

During  the  years  following  there  was  always  a  strong  senti- 
ment for  a  monument,  but  it  did  not  take  shape  until  November 
2,  1887,  when,  at  a  special  town  meeting,  $3000  was  unanimously 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 


voted  for  a  monument  to  the  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War.  Com- 
mittees were  appointed  and  the  granite  monument  was  erected 
on  the  Common  nearly  opposite  the  Town  Hall  and  dedicated 
October  17,  1888  with  impressive  ceremonies,  participated  in  by 
veterans  of  the  regiments  in  which  the  Suffield  men  served.  The 
Twenty-Second  Regiment  and  Veteran  Posts  held  their  reunion 
at  the  Town  Hall  at  n  o'clock,  and  at  noon  were  escorted  by 
the  Sons  of  Veterans  to  the  monument.  Dr.  Matthew  T.  Newton, 
as  president  of  the  day,  delivered  an  address  of  welcome  and  the 
report  of  the  Monument  Committee,  consisting  of  Hezekiah  S. 
Sheldon,  William  H.  Fuller  and  John  M.  Hatheway,  was  read; 
The  oration  was  delivered  by  Hon.  Valentine  B.  Chamberlain 
of  New  Britain. 

The  vice  presidents  of  the  day  were  Hezekiah  S.  Sheldon,  Wil- 
liam H.  Fuller,  I.  Luther  Spencer,  Silas  W.  Clark,  Martin  J.  Shel- 
don, Dr.  J.  K.  Mason,  Edmund  Halladay,  C.  M.  Owen,  William 
L.  Loomis,  J.  H.  Haskins,  F.  B.  Hatheway,  R.  P.  Mather,  Alfred 
Spencer,  Charles  C.  Sheldon,  H.  K.  Wright,  W.  W.  Pease, 
Horace  K.  Ford,  Charles  C.  Warner,  Edwin  A.  Russell  and  Sam- 
uel White.  The  reception  committee  consisted  of  M.  H.  Smith, 
Alfred  Spencer,  Jr.,  L.  P.  Bissell,  James  O.  Haskins,  Calvin  C. 
Spencer,  F.  E.  Hastings,  C.  D.  Towne,  T.  H.  Spencer,  W.  F. 
Fuller,  Richard  Jobes,  J.  R.  Middlebrook,  Charles  L.  Spencer, 

E.  D.  Bemis,  Nelson  Cole,  Warren  W.  Cooper,  A.  L.  Strong, 

F.  H.  Reid,  John  L.  Wilson,  D.  A.  Reeves  and  Henry  Blackmer. 
The  veterans  of  the  Grand  Army  residing  in  Suffield  organized 

a  Suffield  Veteran's  Association  which  has  annually  taken  charge 
of  the  decoration  of  soldiers'  graves  on  Decoration  Day.  Only  five 
of  the  members  are  now  living  —  Francis  E.  Hastings,  Luther 
Curtis,  A.  R.  Austin,  F.  O.  Newton  and  H.  W.  Gridley. 

Red  Cross  Chapter 

Suffield's  large  contribution  to  the  ranks  of  national  enlist- 
ment and  draft  in  the  World  War  appears  from  the  honor  roll, 
but  virtually  the  whole  adult  population  was  enlisted  in  the  con- 
tingent services  for  the  support  of  the  Government,  the  comfort 
of  the  soldiers  and  the  relief  of  the  distressed  in  Europe.  In 
different  drives  large  sums  were  raised  for  the  Red  Cross,  War 
Library,  Salvation  Army  and  the  United  War  Work.  The  ag- 


192  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

gregate  of  $1,139,250  was  subscribed  for  the  four  great  bond 
issues  and  the  town  purchased  about  $56,000  worth  of  War 
Savings  Stamps.  Shortly  after  the  armstice  the  town  gave  a  Wel- 
come Home  with  a  dinner  at  the  Suffield  School  gymnasium  for 
the  soldiers  and  sailors  and  their  families  and  a  free  conveyance 
for  a  theatre  party  at  Springfield. 

In  connection  with  Sumeld's  energetic  war  work,  the  Ameri- 
can Red  Cross  workers  organized  a  local  chapter  in  1917  with 
Mrs.  Samuel  R.  Spencer,  chairman;  Mrs.  George  A.  Harmon, 
vice  chairman;  Miss  A.  F.  Owen,  secretary  and  George  A.  Har- 
mon, treasurer.  Judge  William  M.  Cooper  gave  the  chapter 
quarters  rent  free  during  the  war.  This  organization  of  Suffield 
women  completed  and  delivered  to  the  Hartford  chapter  5,400 
articles  between  February  21,  1917,  and  May,  1919.  Through- 
out this  period  knitting  was  constantly  done,  and  over  one 
thousand  pounds  of  yarn  was  used  up.  This  does  not  include  the 
comfort  bags  made  and  sent  regularly  to  Hartford,  nor  the  out- 
fitting of  Suffield  men  in  the  service.  There  was  also  sent  for  the 
Belgian  refugees  2,500  pounds  of  clothing  in  1918  and  five  cases 
of  garments  in  1919.  The  Committee  of  Civilian  Relief  of  the 
Red  Cross  consisted  of  George  A.  Peckham,  Karl  C.  Kulle,  W. 
S.  Fuller,  A.  C.  Scott,  Mrs.  D.  W.  Goodale,  W.  H.  Orr  and  Mrs. 
J.  N.  Root.  The  Chapter  maintains  its  activity  in  necessary  Red 
Cross  work  and  in  the  relief  of  any  cases  of  distress  in  the  town. 

Banks 

A  meeting  of  the  subscribers  to  stock  for  a  national  bank  to 
be  located  in  Suffield  was  held  in  Union  Hall  June  28,  1864  and 
the  following  eleven  directors  were  chosen:  Daniel  W.  Norton, 
Henry  Fuller,  Martin  J.  Sheldon,  Henry  Endress,  Byron  Loomis, 
Henry  P.  Kent,  I.  Luther  Spencer,  Aretas  Rising,  Wm.  L. 
Loomis,  Burdett  Loomis,  Wm.  H.  Fuller. 

They  met  the  next  day  in  the  same  place  and  elected  Daniel 
W.  Norton  president,  and  at  another  meeting  in  September 
voted  that  the  business  of  the  bank  should  commence  Monday, 
October  3  in  the  building  and  store  now  owned  by  George  Mar- 
tinez. October  26,  1868  the  directors  voted  to  .purchase  land 
from  David  Hale  and  "erect  a  banking  house  of  brick  thereon," 
but  March  8  of  the  next  year  the  directors  voted  to  "purchase 


FIRST  NATIONAL  BANK  AND  SUFFIELD  SAVINGS  BANK 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  193 

of  Thomas  Archer,  George  Archer  and  Horace  Archer  the  corner 
lot  now  occupied  by  Harrocks,  McKensie  &  Co.,  "and  there  the 
present  banking  house  was  soon  after  built.  Daniel  W.  Norton 
resigned  as  president  November  6,  1871,  Byron  Loomis  was 
elected  in  his  place  and  a  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  to  Mr. 
Norton  "for  his  faithfulness  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as 
president  of  the  bank."  February  20,  1877  Mr  Loomis  resigned 
and  I.  Luther  Spencer  was  elected  president  and  so  remained 
for  over  twenty  years,  or  till  his  death  December  31,  1897.  His 
son  Charles  L.  Spencer  was  chosen  to  succeed  him  January  II, 
1898  and  held  the  office  till  August  1913,  when  he  resigned  to 
accept  the  presidency  of  the  Connecticut  River  Banking  Com- 
pany of  Hartford,  and  Charles  S.  Fuller,  the  present  president, 
was  elected.  The  first  cashier,  Charles  A.  Chapman,  was  elected 
September  I,  1864  and  resigned  May  28,  1877.  Henry  Young 
succeeded  him  and  resigned  in  1878.  Alfred  Spencer,  Jr.  was 
elected  to  fill  his  place  and  resigned  June  I,  1891  to  become 
cashier  of  the  Aetna  National  Bank  of  Hartford.  Charles  S. 
Fuller  was  elected  cashier  June  I,  1891,  and  held  the  position 
until  elected  president  in  1913,  his  place  being  filled  by  Samuel 
N.  Reid,  the  present  cashier.  The  present  capital  stock  is 
$100,000;  surplus,  undivided  profits  and  reserves  $180,000. 

The  charter  of  the  Suffield  Savings  Bank  was  granted  by  the 
Legislature  in  May  1869,  and  was  accepted  by  the  corporators 
at  a  meeting  July  I  following.  It  opened  for  business  in  the  First 
National  Bank  building  but  was  later  located  in  offices  at  the 
south  end  of  the  Cooper  block,  remaining  there  until  six  years 
ago  when  its  own  handsome  building  was  constructed.  The 
growth  of  the  institution  has  been  practically  coincident  with  the 
life  of  Suffield  in  the  past  half  century  and  its  relation  to  the 
financial  affairs  of  the  community  is  indicated  by  the  deposits 
on  February  I  for  ten  year  periods  as  follows: 

1879 $94,257.26 

1889 115,449.05 

1899 i98,4S9-64 

1909 466,97S-83 

1919 860,894.88 

The  deposits  February  I,  1921  were  $1,107,560.74.  The  presi- 
dents of  the  bank  with  the  terms  of  their  service  have  been: 


194  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

Martin  J.  Sheldon,  July  6, 1869  to  November  6,  1869;  Daniel  W. 
Norton,  November  6,  1869  to  July  15,  1871 ;  Byron  Loomis,  July 
15,  1871  to  May  7,  1877;  William  H.  Fuller,  May  7, 1877  to  Jan- 
uary 6,  1890;  William  L.  Loomis,  January  6,  1890  to  July  u, 
1894;  Matthew  T.  Newton,  July  n,  1894  to  January  8,  1906; 
Chas.  C.  Bissell,  January  8, 1906  to  February  3, 1914.  The  pres- 
ent president,  Samuel  R.  Spencer,  has  served  since  February  9, 
1914.  The  treasurers  with  their  terms  of  service  have  been: 
Charles  A.  Chapman,  July  6,  1869  to  May  7,  1877;  William  L. 
Loomis,  May  7,  1877  to  July  28,  1877;  Benjamin  F.  Hastings, 
July  28, 1877  to  August  6, 1877;  Samuel  White,  August  6, 1877  to 
July  29,  1896;  Martin  H.  Smith,  July  29,  189610  January  8,  1906. 
William  J.  Wilson  has  been  treasurer  since  January  8,  1906. 
Emma  L.  Newton  served  as  assistant  treasurer  from  January  12, 
1903  to  January  8,  1906. 

Publishers 

In  the  decade  before  and  after  1800  there  was  for  those  times 
an  extensive  printing  and  publishing  business  in  Suffield.  Several 
books  and  pamphlets  now  greatly  prized  by  collectors  of  old 
imprints  were  published  here.  One  of  the  most  extensive  estab- 
lishments was  that  of  Edward  Gray,  several  of  whose  imprints 
were  picked  up  at  various  places  by  the  late  H.  S.  Sheldon,  and 
are  in  his  collection  at  the  Library.  The  precise  location  of  these 
printing  plants  is  not  definitely  known,  except  that  Gray's  was 
in  the  Hezekiah  Huntington  law  office  building,  still  standing. 
(See  page  119.) 

At  one  time  there  was  a  newspaper  called  The  Impartial 
Herald.  Suffield  has  had  no  other  newspapers  of  its  own,  though 
it  has  shared  in  the  Windsor  Locks  Journal,  which  was  estab- 
lished in  1880  by  Sherman  T.  Addis  who  came  to  Suffield  from 
New  Milford,  built  a  house  here  on  Bridge  Street  and  conducted 
the  newspaper  till  his  health  failed.  He  died  in  1896.  In  1895 
the  business  was  bought  by  John  T.  Morse  of  Thompsonville 
and  is  now  published  by  a  corporation  of  which  Charles  R.  La- 
tham of  Suffield  is  secretary. 

Physicians 
The  list  of  physicians  who  through  their  professional  or  public 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  195 

service  have  been  identified  with  the  affairs  of  the  town  either 
in  Suffield  Center  or  West  Suffield,  if  not  complete  or  in  exact 
chronological  order,  is  substantially  as  follows  as  appears  from 
the  notes  of  H.  S.  Sheldon :  John  Drew,  about  1735;  Nathaniel  Aus- 
tin, 1736-47;  Amos  Granger,  West  Suffield,  1774-1811;  Howard 
Alden,  died  in  1841  at  the  age  of  eighty-one;  Oliver  Pease,  died 
in  1843  at  the  age  of  eighty-four;  Enoch  Leavitt,  died  in  1827; 
John  Hanchett,  practiced  in  West  Suffield  from  1805  to  1825 
and  Edwin  G.  Ufford,  also  West  Suffield,  1829-33;  Sumner  Ives, 
died  in  1844  at  the  age  of  forty-five;  Asaph  L.  Bissell,  born  in 
1791  and  died  in  1850;  Aretas  Rising,  born  in  1801  and  died  in 
1884;  O.  W.  Kellogg,  began  practice  in  West  Suffield  in  1842, 
moved  to  Suffield  center  in  1859  and  died  in  1891  at  the  age  of 
seventy-three;  William  H.  Mather,  died  in  1888  at  the  age  of 
fifty-four;  Jarvis  K.  Mason,  died  in  1905  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
three;  Matthew  T.  Newton,  died  in  1909  at  the  age  of  eighty; 
Philo  W.  Street,  died  in  1909  at  the  age  of  forty-five,  and  A.  P. 
Sherwin,  died  in  1910  at  the  age  of  fifty-one.  Following  them 
William  M.  Stockwell  and  A.  P.  Noyes  practiced  a  few  years 
but  removed  to  other  places.  The  present  physicians  are  W.  E. 
Caldwell,  J.  A.  Gibbs,  H.  M.  Brown  and  William  Levy. 

Emergency  Aid 

The  Emergency  Aid  Association  of  Suffield,  was  formed  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  late  Dr.  Philo  W.  Street  to  provide  "sick  room 
appliances  and  assistance,  for  those  who  because  of  helplessness 
or  poverty  may  be  in  need  of  them".  The  first  meeting  was  held 
November  13,  1903,  with  representative  women  from  every 
ladies'  organization  in  the  township  in  attendance.  November 
19  a  constitution  was  adopted  and  officers  chosen  as  follows: 
Mrs.  David  W.  Goodale,  president;  Miss  Alena  F.  Owen,  treas- 
urer; Miss  Frances  O.  Mather,  secretary.  There  was  one  vice 
president  from  each  women's  organization,  these  being  respon- 
sible for  the  raising  of  $10.  each  for  the  purchasing  of  necessary 
appliances  up  to  $100. 

In  April  1904,  the  association  became  an  incorporated  body 
duly  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  State  and  thus  able  to  receive 
and  hold  prpperty  by  will  or  gift.  The  incorporators  were  Mary 


196  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

L.  Goodale,  Sarah  L.  Fuller,  Frances  O.  Mather,  Alena  F.  Owen, 
Mary  D.  Nelson  and  Ella  C.  Henshaw. 

The  association  has  always  kept  on  hand  rubber  goods  for 
the  sick;  sheets,  pillow  slips,  layettes,  bed  garments,  wheel 
chairs,  and  crutches  for  destitute  sick  people.  It  supplied  nurses 
on  call,  until  in  1915  when  the  Community  Nurse  was  installed, 
Suffield  being  the  third  town  in  the  state  to  do  this.  One  legacy 
has  been  received  by  will,  that  of  Miss  Kate  Harrocks  of  $50 
and  one  large  gift  of  $1,000  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dwight  S. 
Fuller. 

Miss  Ellen  E.  Qualey,  the  first  nurse,  served  for  four  years 
with  an  efficiency  much  appreciated  by  the  townspeople.  In 
order  that  every  family  might  have  an  interest,  house  to  house 
collections  were  made,  and  later  a  Community  Carnival  was 
held  with  such  good  results  that  in  1916  a  Ford  Runabout  was 
purchased  for  the  use  of  the  nurse.  In  1917  the  town  took  over 
the  salary  of  the  nurse  as  part  of  the  town  budget.  In  that  year 
the  organization  assumed  as  part  of  its  work  the  sale  of  Red 
Cross  Tuberculosis  seals,  two-thirds  of  the  amount  raised  by 
these  sales  going  toward  local  work  of  the  association  and  the 
remaining  third  to  the  State. 

Village  of  Suffield 

A  marked  transformation  from  old  to  more  modern  conditions 
began  to  take  place  about  thirty  years  ago,  various  causes  con- 
tributing to  the  results  that  followed.  An  early  development  was 
the  enterprise  of  Apollos  Fuller  of  Mapleton  in  driving  an  arte- 
sian well,  near  the  highway  nearly  opposite  the  place  of  his 
father,  the  late  Cecil  H.  Fuller.  An  abundant  supply  of  pure 
water  was  tapped  and  the  enterprise  was  turned  to  the  provision 
of  a  village  water  supply. 

April  19,  1893,  forty-four  legal  voters  of  the  Center  School 
District  First  Society  petitioned  the  selectmen  of  Suffield  for  a 
special  meeting  of  the  voters,  to  be  held  on  the  first  day  of  May, 
1893,  at  8  o'clock.  The  meeting  was  duly  held  at  which  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  was  adopted,  "Resolved: — By  the  legal  voters 
residing  within  the  boundary  lines  of  the  Center  School  District, 
First  Society  of  Suffield,  that  a  district  comprising  the  above 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 


described  territory  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  established,  for  the 
purpose  expressed  in  the  petition  for  this  meeting,  and  as  pro- 
vided in  an  act  relating  to  organization  of  districts  for  extinguish- 
ing fires  and  other  purposes." 

It  was  voted  that  the  district  be  called  the  Village  of  Suffield. 
The  purpose  as  given  in  the  call  was  as  follows:  "To  extinguish 
fires,  to  sprinkle  streets,  to  light  streets,  to  plant  and  care  for 
shade  and  ornamental  trees,  to  construct  and  maintain  side- 
walks, cross  walks,  drains  and  sewers  and  to  appoint  and  employ 
watchmen  or  police  officers."  The  First  School  district  was  in- 
corporated as  the  Village  of  Suffield,  and  in  the  next  Legislature 
Dwight  S.  Fuller,  then  one  of  the  town  representatives,  secured 
a  charter  for  the  Village  Water  Company.  Pipes  were  laid  down 
to  the  Center  and  thereafter  extended.  The  plant  consisted  of 
power  pumps  to  force  the  water  to  the  standpipe  on  the  high 
ground  north  of  the  junction  of  Main  Street  and  the  Mapleton 
road. 

Such  a  power  plant  quickly  suggested  the  possibility  of  the 
generation  of  electricity  and  the  installation  of  electric  lights 
which  at  that  period  were  being  introduced  extensively  in  larger 
places.  At  about  the  same  time  the  change  from  horse  cars  to  the 
trolly  system  was  taking  place,  the  first  enterprise  for  suburban 
electric  lines  set  in  and  an  outside  promoter  organized  a  company 
for  a  Suffield  trolly  line.  The  undertaking  failed  after  partial 
construction  but  was  soon  taken  up  through  an  arrangement 
with  the  Springfield  Street  Railway  Company,  and  the  line  com- 
pleted to  Kent  Corner.  The  cars  began  running  in  1902.  A  few 
years  later  the  connection  between  Windsor  and  Suffield  was 
made  by  the  Hartford  and  Springfield  Company,  and  the  west 
side  route  completed. 

At  about  the  same  period  occurred  the  telephone  extension. 
The  telegraph  had  come  to  Suffield  along  with  the  Suffield  branch 
in  1870,  and  the  discontinuance  of  the  stage  to  Windsor  Locks, 
but  since  the  installation  of  telephones,  the  telegraph  service 
has  largely  been  restricted  to  the  railroad.  All  these  changes, 
occurring  practically  within  a  decade,  had  a  pronounced  effect 
on  the  life  of  the  community  which  not  only  enjoyed  the  advan- 
tages of  water  and  lights,  but  was  brought  into  quicker  com- 
munication with  Hartford  and  Springfield. 


198  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

Fire  Department 

The  first  fire  equipment  of  the  town  was  installed  in  1876 
after  a  series  of  fires.  The  apparatus  consisted  of  two  hand  drawn 
and  hand  operated  pumps,  drawing  water  from  wells  and  cisterns 
and  delivering  a  stream  about  the  size  of  a  garden  hose.  In  1896 
after  the  First  Center  School  district  was  incorporated  as  the 
Village  of  Suffield  and  the  water  system  was  put  in,  the  volun- 
teer department  was  organized.  Two  hose  companies  were 
formed,  equipped  with  hand  drawn  reel  and  regulation  fire  hose. 
A  Hook  and  Ladder  company  was  formed  in  1900,  equipped  with 
a  hand  drawn  ladder  truck.  In  1917  the  present  Knox  Six  Cyl- 
inder Combination  Chemical  and  Hose  Car  was  bought.  The 
department  now  consists  of  a  hose  company  and  a  ladder  com- 
pany. Only  the  chemical  car  answers  first  alarms,  but  one  hose 
reel  and  the  ladder  truck  are  kept  in  readiness  when  additional 
help  is  needed.  Alarms  are  received  by  telephone  and  sent  out 
on  a  large  electric  siren.  The  list  of  fire  chiefs  with  the  date  of 
their  appointment  is  as  follows:  Wallace  C.  Knox,  1897;  John 
L.Wilson,  1899;  Fred  J.  Lunny,  1905;  Jerry  Dineen,  1910;  Louis 
G.  Allen,  1912.  The  department  has  thirty  members. 

Masonic  Lodge  and  other  Organizations 

With  ceremonies  attended  by  officers  of  the  grand  lodge  of 
Connecticut,  and  with  a  public  reception  on  the  evening  of 
July  27,  1920,  or  a  few  weeks  previous  to  the  quarter  millennial 
of  the  town,  Apollo  Lodge  No.  59,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  celebrated  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  its  estab- 
lishment in  Suffield.  In  the  spring  of  1820  a  number  of  Masonic 
brethren  in  the  town  petitioned  the  grand  lodge  at  Hartford 
for  a  charter  for  a  local  lodge.  The  petition  was  granted,  the 
lodge  installed  July  27th  and  meetings  were  held  at  the  house 
of  Ezekiel  Osborn  on  Ratley  road,  West  Suffield.  The  first  offi- 
cers were:  Andrew  Dennison,  W.  M.;  Barlow  Rose,  S.  W.;  Sim- 
eon Lewis,  J.  W.;  John  W.  Hanchett,  secretary;  Thaddeus 
Lyman,  treasurer;  Julius  C.  Sheldon,  S.  D.;  Curtis  Rose,  J.  D.; 
James  Austin,  and  Austin  Smith,  tylers. 

The  organizers  and  first  officers  were  mainly  prominent  West 
Suffield  men,  but  in  1823  it  was  decided  to  remove  the  lodge  to 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  199 

Suffield  Center  and  a  room  was  secured  temporarily  in  the 
Archer  House  (see  page  175)  where  the  first  meeting  was  held 
September  II,  1823.  Permanent  quarters  were  secured  in  1828 
of  Horace  Warner  on  Main  Street,  now  at  the  corner  of  Day 
Avenue.  Meetings  were  held  there  until  1832  when  what  was 
known  as  the  "Anti-Masonic  Times"  set  in  and  for  several 
years  the  lodge  languished.  There  is  a  tradition  that  for  about 
ten  years  the  charter  was  hidden  in  a  building  on  the  Horace 
Warner  premises.  At  a  meeting  in  1842  of  which  Julius  Harmon 
was  moderator  and  Luther  Loomis  secretary,  it  was  voted  that 
it  was  "inexpedient  to  relinquish  the  charter"  and  that  every 
means  should  be  used  to  sustain  the  lodge.  But  it  was  not  until 
1851  that  it  was  reorganized  and  rooms  were  secured  over  the 
Loomis  Store,  now  the  Cooper  Block.  At  about  the  same  time 
the  grand  lodge  restored  its  original  rights  which  appear  to  have 
been  temporarily  suspended.  The  lodge  continued  in  the  Loomis 
block  until  1862,  when  it  leased  rooms  in  the  building  then 
owned  by  H.  N.  Prout  and  now  by  George  Martinez.  It  con- 
tinued there  until  1870  when  quarters  were  secured  in  the  newly 
constructed  building  of  the  First  National  Bank. 

Here  the  lodge  remained  for  over  forty  years,  growing  in  popu- 
larity and  strength.  About  fifteen  years  ago  the  members 
started  a  movement  for  a  building  of  their  own.  The  late  Louise 
E.  Hatheway,  whose  father  had  been  the  second  Worshipful 
Master  of  the  lodge  offered  to  present  it  with  a  building  lot  on 
her  property,  and  to  further  building  plans  a  special  charter 
under  the  name  of  the  Suffield  Masonic  Association  was  secured. 
But  the  plans  could  not  be  sufficiently  developed  at  the  time  and 
were  given  up.  In  1912,  after  the  death  of  Miss  Sophia  Bissell 
the  Luther  Loomis  house  (See  page  170)  was  bought  by  Mr. 
Charles  L.  Spencer  and  in  1913  he  presented  the  lodge  with  a 
deed  of  the  place  which  was  later  transferred  to  the  Suffield 
Masonic  Association.  The  house  was  remodeled  and  refinished 
at  a  cost  of  about  $12,000  with  quarters  for  the  Masonic  Club 
on  the  first  floor  and  thus  one  of  the  beautiful  landmarks  of  old 
Suffield  is  being  preserved.  As  elsewhere  noted,  the  Masonic 
Association  kindly  tendered  the  club  quarters  for  a  Hostess 
House  during  the  celebration.  The  list  of  officers  of  the  lodge  in 


2OO  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

the  course  of  its  one  hundred  years  of  existence  includes  the 
names  of  many  leading  Suffield  men  in  their  times. 

Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution 

Sibbil  Dwight  Kent  Chapter  D.  A.  R.  was  organized  at  the 
home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  A.  Fuller  June  10,  1896,  under 
the  direction  of  Mrs.  Sara  T.  Kinney,  State  Regent,  with  thirty 
charter  members  from  Suffield  and  Windsor  Locks;  including 
two  Real  Daughters,  Mrs.  Anna  Hale  Burnap  Pierce  and  Mrs. 
Mary  Burns  Woodworth.  Miss  Helen  L.  Archer  was  the  first 
regent,  with  Mrs.  Emily  Wadsworth  Schwartz  as  vice-regent; 
Miss  Emily  L.  Norton,  secretary  and  treasurer;  Miss  Emma  L. 
Newton,  registrar;  Miss  Helen  M.  King,  historian. 

The  work  of  the  chapter  has  been  in  locating  and  marking  the 
graves  of  Revolutionary  soldiers  throughout  the  town;  restoring 
the  old  cemetery  in  the  center  of  the  town;  the  setting  of  trees 
along  the  highway  near  this  burial  place  and  the  raising  of  a 
fund  to  insure  its  perpetual  care;  also  some  minor  memorial 
work.  In  1903  a  large  boulder  with  bronze  tablet  suitably  in- 
scribed was  placed  in  the  Park  to  mark  the  site  of  the  first  Meet- 
ing House. 

The  Chapter  has  passed  through  two  wars,  the  Spanish-Am- 
erican, and  the  World  War;  in  both,  raising  money,  and  making 
garments  of  all  kinds  to  help  the  soldiers.  The  study  of  the 
history  of  our  country,  and  patriotism,  have  been  encouraged 
by  the  giving  of  prizes  for  essays  on  these  subjects  in  the  public 
schools  of  Windsor  Locks  and  Suffield.  From  the  organization 
of  the  chapter  many  scholarships  have  been  given  for  the  educa- 
tion of  worthy  youths  in  schools  in  the  South  and  West,  in  the 
Connecticut  Literary  Institution  and  among  the  foreign  young 
people  in  the  American  International  College.  For  some  twenty 
years  it  gave  the  Annual  Memorial  Day  Dinner  to  Civil  War 
veterans,  but  it  was  given  up  as  one  by  one  the  old  soldiers 
passed  away.  The  Chapter  has  grown  to  a  present  member- 
ship of  eighty-four. 

Woman's  Reading  Club 

In  the  autumn  of  1894  and  as  an  outgrowth  of  the  Chautauqua 
Circle,  which  had  existed  for  a  period  previously,  the  Woman's 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  2OI 

Reading  Club  was  formed.  Thirty-one  members  were  enrolled 
and  the  officers  for  the  first  year  were:  Mrs.  C.  C.  Spencer, 
president;  Mrs.  M.  M.  McCord,  vice-president;  Miss  H.  L. 
Archer,  secretary  and  treasurer  and  Miss  Alena  F.  Owen  and 
Mrs.  A.  W.  Lawrence  advisory  committee.  The  object  of  the 
club,  as  its  constitution  states,  is  "the  promotion  of  literary 
pursuits  and  the  increase  of  the  social  element  among  the  women 
of  our  town."  The  club's  activities  have  been  continued  along 
the  lines  first  prescribed  and  have  been  maintained  with  constant 
interest  and  educational  influence  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
Besides  the  regular  meetings  of  the  members,  lectures  and  musi- 
cals open  to  the  public  have  been  given  from  time  to  time. 

Ladies'  Wide  Awake  Club 

The  Ladies'  Wide  Awake  Club  has  become  an  active  and  use- 
ful institution  in  the  life  of  West  Suffield.  Its  first  meeting  was 
held  October  26,  1908  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  George  L.  Warner 
and  there  were  forty  charter  members.  It  was  started  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  money  to  install  electric  street  lights  in  West 
Suffield  and  it  still  pays  over  $100  a  year  to  that  end.  It  has  de- 
voted itself  to  many  benefits  and  improvements  for  the  com- 
munity and  has  remodeled  the  old  school  rooms  in  the  building 
bought  by  the  Village  Improvement  Society.  One  room  is  used 
as  a  club  room  and  the  other  as  a  kitchen,  and  suppers  or  en- 
tertainments are  given  every  month  for  the  benefit  of  the  com- 
munity. During  the  war  the  club  contributed  much  to  Red  Cross 
and  war  relief  work.  It  now  has  forty-five  members. 

Mapleton  Hall 

A  strong  community  spirit  has  characterized  the  people  re- 
siding in  that  part  of  the  town  long  known  as  Crooked  Lane  and 
later  as  Mapleton.  Early  in  the  seventies  they  began  to  hold 
Lyceum  and  Farmers'  meetings  in  the  old  brick  school  house  at 
the  foot  of  the  hill.  It  became  too  small  for  the  interesting 
meetings  and  in  the  winter  of  1879-80  a  public  hall  was  sug- 
gested. This  sentiment  quickly  grew  and  at  a  meeting  early  in 
1880  a  committee  consisting  of  Cecil  H.  Fuller,  Arthur  Sikes  and 
Edward  Austin  was  appointed  to  draw  up  articles  of  organiza- 
tion and  agreement.  They  were  presented  at  a  meeting  at  the 


2O2  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

school  house  April  16,  1880,  and  an  association  organized.  The 
articles  of  agreement  were  accepted  and  the  following  officers 
elected:  president,  Edward  Austin;  secretary,  John  L.  Wilson; 
auditor,  Dwight  S.  Fuller;  trustees,  Cecil  H.  Fuller,  Henry  D. 
Tinker  and  D.  D.  Bement.  In  the  next  two  years  enough  money 
was  raised  so  that  the  construction  of  Mapleton  Hall  was  begun 
in  the  spring  of  1882.  It  was  ready  for  use  in  January  of  the 
next  year  and  was  dedicated  January  16  with  exercises  that  in- 
cluded an  "old  home  week."  At  first  it  was  called  Central  Hall, 
but  the  name  was  later  changed  to  Mapleton  Hall.  In  1896  a 
large  addition  was  built  to  meet  the  requirements.  All  debts 
are  paid  and  the  association  has  money  in  the  treasury. 

The  Grange 

The  old  Lyceum  and  Farmers'  meetings  were  continued  in  the 
new  hall  till  1885,  when  the  Grange  was  organized  to  take  their 
places.  The  organization  occurred  February  19,  1885  with 
Henry  D.  Tinker,  master,  Arthur  Sikes,  secretary  and  George 
A.  Austin,  lecturer.  From  that  time  till  the  present  the  organ- 
ization has  held  meetings  twice  a  month.  When  organized  there 
were  twenty-eight  charter  members;  the  membership  is  now 
two  hundred. 

The  May  Breakfast 

To  provide  means  for  maintaining  the  hall,  in  the  spring  of 
1887  the  association  appointed  a  committee  consisting  of  Allen 
Wilson,  C.  D.  Vandelinda,  G.  A.  Austin,  Ella  M.  Clark  and 
Fannie  M.  Sikes.  Allen  Wilson  suggested  the  idea  of  a  May 
Breakfast  on  May  I  of  that  year.  Thus  the  first  breakfast  was 
held  in  the  hall  in  1887  and  about  $100  was  cleared.  Since  then 
different  committees  have  been  chosen  by  the  Mapleton  Hall 
Association  to  have  charge  of  this  annual  affair,  which  has  been 
successfully  continued  to  the  present  with  the  single  exception 
of  1918  when  it  was  omitted  because  of  urgent  war  work.  The 
breakfasts  have  now  a  wide  reputation  and  are  largely  attended 
by  people  from  neighboring  cities  and  towns.  More  than  $6000 
has  been  netted  by  these  breakfasts  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
hall  and  for  the  addition  made  in  1896. 


SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW  2O3 

Mapleton  Literary  Club 

Another  thriving  association  of  Mapleton  is  the  Mapleton 
Literary  Club  which  was  formed  October  20,  1905  by  nine 
women  of  that  street  and  the  present  membership  is  thirty- 
seven.  Its  first  seven  years  were  devoted  to  study  of  American 
history,  American  literature  and  travel  in  the  United  States  and 
England.  In  later  courses  it  has  taken  up  domestic  science, 
physical  culture,  art,  music,  nature,  inventions,  engineering, 
religion,  child  labor  and  government.  In  each  season  there  is 
one  open  meeting  with  a  speaker.  In  January  of  each  year  the 
ladies  entertain  their  husbands  with  a  banquet  and  they  are 
popular  gatherings.  The  club  also  has  an  annual  outing. 

The  Town 

Such  in  the  main  and  in  brief  are  the  religious,  educational, 
industrial  and  social  institutions  of  Suffield,  their  roots  running 
back  into  a  past  in  which  its  people  have  labored  for  their  com- 
mon welfare.  Embracing  and  uniting  them  all  is  a  community 
spirit,  or  town  feeling  and  purpose,  manifested  at  all  times  and 
in  various  ways,  and  in  no  way,  probably,  so  true  to  the  ideals 
of  its  founders  as  in  the  Town  Meeting. 

As  elsewhere  stated,  the  people  who  migrated  to  Connecticut 
nearly  three  hundred  years  ago  brought  with  them  the  political 
purpose,  denied  at  Massachusetts  Bay,  of  managing  their  local 
affairs  through  their  own  elected  selectmen,  and  by  annual  or 
special  Town  Meetings  authorizing  and  ordering  their  common 
interests  by  the  will  of  the  majority.  In  their  urban  growth 
some  of  these  towns  have  lost  this  fundamental  institution  of 
democracy,  but  SufHeld  is  one  of  those  in  which  it  has  survived 
all  changes,  losing  none  of  its  fitness  and  efficacy  under  different 
conditions  and  in  the  management  of  larger  affairs.  In  char- 
acter and  effect,  the  Town  Meeting  of  the  present  is  essentially 
the  same  as  when,  in  1682,  Major  John  Pynchon  presided  over 
the  first  assembly  of  Suffield  citizens. 

In  this  meeting,  now  even  more  than  at  first  because  of  the 
extension  of  the  voting  franchise,  political  equality  finds  its 
purest  example  and  the  will  of  the  people  its  most  complete  ex- 
pression. No  other  institution  established  in  township  begin- 


2O4  SUFFIELD    OLD    AND    NEW 

nings,  has  held  so  true  to  an  original  purpose,  no  other  has  had  a 
greater  influence  in  safeguarding  the  orderly  sovereignty  of  the 
people,  and  no  other  furnishes  better  security  for  the  enduring 
life  of  American  institutions. 


Tribute 


As  Suffield  advances  into  the  future,  old  family  names,  banded 
down  from  Puritan  ancestry,  will  persist;  not  exclusively  as  in  the 
early  generations,  perhaps  not  predominating  as  in  later  genera- 
tions, but  mingled  with  the  names  of  newer  Americans,  inheriting, 
not  the  blood,  but  the  institutions  of  the  old  New  England  stock. 
If  in  Suffield,  as  elsewhere,  the  times  are  marking  a  turn  in  the 
long  course  of  the  New  England  township,  no  civic  duty  is  more 
important  than  that  old  and  new  strains  alike  keep  and  revere  the 
inheritance  of  the  past  in  the  progress  of  the  future. 

Were  these  pages  to  be  dedicated  to  the  living,  they  should  be 
dedicated  to  all  those  who  love  and  loyally  serve  the  old  Town  of 
Suffield,  whatever  their  names  and  wherever  they  may  be. 

Were  they  to  be  dedicated  to  the  dead,  they  should  be  dedicated 
to  all  those  who  in  all  the  years  have  lived  in  Suffield,  contributing 
to  the  strength  and  permanence  of  its  traditions  and  institutions, 
and  leaving  to  it  the  rewards  of  their  lives  and  labors. 

Were  they  to  be  dedicated  to  those  who  in  the  last  half  century 
have  contributed  in  special  and  substantial  ways  to  the  enduring 
strength  of  these  traditions  and  institutions,  they  should  be  dedi- 
cated to  Sidney  A.  Kent,  Martin  J.  Sheldon,  and  James  P. 
Spencer,  sons  of  Suffield,  generous  benefactors  of  its  larger  educa- 
tional life  in  school  and  library;  and  to  Hezekiah  S.  Sheldon  and 
William  L.  Loomis,  sons  of  Suffield,  who,  in  a  labor  of  love, 
gave  an  abiding  life  to  the  records  of  the  past. 

Were  they  to  be  dedicated  to  the  one  who  in  these  recent  years 
has  been  chief  among  his  fellow  citizens,  a  son  of  Suffield,  its  gen- 
erous benefactor,  wise  counselor  and  active  leader  in  every  good 
service  during  a  long  lifetime,  they  should  be  dedicated  to  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  General  Executive  Committee  of  the  'Two  Hundred  and 
Fiftieth  Anniversary  Celebration,  Edward  A.  Fuller,  who  died  at 
his  home  in  Main  Street,  February  15,  1921,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
eight. 

With  this  tribute  to  all  who  have  inspired  a  larger  future  for 
Suffield,  true  to  its  noble  inheritance  from  the  past,  these  pages 
close. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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